Mirzapur, Bansi Paharpur stones to firm up plinth, secure spires

Ayodhya: Three different types of stones and marble will be used in constructing the plinth, spire and outer periphery walls of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, said top sources in the temple Trust. While the base plinth will be laid with 4 lakhs cubic feet of stones from Mirzapur, the elegant spires will be built with 1 lakh cubic feet of pink standstone sourced from Bansi Paharpur forest in Rajasthan, which recently legalized stone mining to circumvent wildlife norms.The nature and quality of stones for erecting the periphery walls is still being debated and the final call will be taken by the temple Trust’s construction committee chairman, Nripendra Mishra, who’s scheduled to hold a two-day crucial meeting at Faizabad circuit house from Sunday.
Reiterating that the temple will be complete by 2024, temple Trust secretary Champat Rai said, six layers of the foundation have already been laid. “We have to roll out 45 more layers and the process is expected to be completed by October-end. Round-the-clock work at the temple site will enable us to meet the deadline,” he said. Reacting to the possibility of devotees taking part in kar sewa, Rai said, “Devotees can do symbolic kar sewa in their villages as the crisis triggered by the pandemic is yet to blow over.”
Trust members will meet on Sunday at the Faizabad Circuit House for the crucial meeting of the construction committee to be chaired by Nripendra Mishra. He’s expected to inspect the ongoing construction work, weed out hurdles and chalk out ways to expedite construction.