Published 16:48 IST, June 18th 2020
Ram Janmabhoomi trust halts temple's stone-laying ceremony amid Indo-China Galwan faceoff
Amid the LAC face-off between China and India, the Ram Janmabhoomi trust on Thursday, has decided to halt the temple construction activities in Ayodhya
Amid the LAC face-off between China and India, the Ram Janmabhoomi trust on Thursday, has decided to halt the 'stone-laying ceremony' in Ayodhya, as per sources. A week ago, Republic TV had accessed design details of the temple, with the construction scheduled to begin shortly. As per the tentative design, the temple is set to be constructed over two floors - spanning 268ft in length, 140ft in width, and 128 ft in height.
Yogi Adityanath performs 'shifting of Ram Lalla'
In March, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had performed a special puja and shifted Ram Lalla from the makeshift temple in Ayodhya to another a pre-fabricated temple in the same premises. This was the first time the Ram Lalla statue was shifted from the contested land after 27 years. Amid the nationwide lockdown, the 'puja' had only a few people in attendance with social distancing norms being implemented. In November 2019, the Supreme Court had ended the seven-decade long land dispute, awarding the Ram Janmabhoomi land to the Hindu parties and offering an alternated land to the Muslim parties.
Ram Mandir Trust formation & meetings
Prime Minister Modi had announced the formation of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in the Lok Sabha on February 5, with his own former Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra heading the construction committee. The committee has met several times and has invited the PM to lay the foundation stone when the construction begins. President of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Mahant Nritya Gopal Das has claimed that the construction of the Ram Temple will begin in 6 months, in the same place where Babri Masjid was present.
Recently, amid ground preparations for the construction, even pillars of black touchstone, six pillars of red sandstone and broken idols of Devi-Devtas were found at Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi temple site. Informing about the findings, Champat Rai, General Secy of Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra Trust, said that for 10 days the ground at the site was being levelled and that is when the pillars in the debris and other items were found. The temple construction is projected to be completed by 2022, a year before the Uttar Pradesh State polls.
Updated 16:51 IST, June 18th 2020