By Sharat Pradhan, IANS
Ayodhya : The cutting and carving of stones for the planned Ram temple on the ruins of the Babri mosque here has come to a halt after a gap of 17 years because of fund constraints.
While Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists offered several explanations for the discontinuation in work, Ram Janmabhoomi Trust chief Mahant Nritya Gopaldas put the blame on “definite shortage of funds”.
Asked what led to paucity of funds when millions of Hindus were believed to have donated generously for the temple construction, the Mahant shot back: “You should pose that query to VHP leaders.”
VHP chief Ashok Singhal was not available for comment. However, his second-in-command, Praveen Togadia, told IANS over telephone from Ahmedabad: “We had collected Rs.8.33 crore (Rs.83 million) for the temple”, which he said was spent on procurement, cutting and carving of stones that would be used as pillars.
Togadia said: “We collected Rs.1.25 from every devotee; we will raise more funds as soon as land is transferred to us for temple construction.”
The workshop where the pink colour stones – brought from Dholpur in Rajasthan – were being chiselled used unique equipment.
On display in a glasshouse at the entrance of the old workshop is a sandalwood model of the proposed temple, which will be 268 feet long, 140 feet wide and 128 feet tall.
According to Das, the temple is to be erected on 212 stone pillars, 14 feet in height, spread equally over the first two stories. “The third storey will feature a turret,” said Das, who has been associated with the emotive campaign to build the temple for decades.
As many as 106 columns, required for the first storey of the proposed temple, have been completed and stored inside the premises of the two workshops near the “karsevakpuram” (the voluntary workers’ camp). That is where nearly 130 artisans used to work day after day, right from 1990.
The columns have been so designed that they can be wedged together. The temple is to be built without cement and mortar.
With the carving work halted, sculptors have started going back in batches to their homes in Rajasthan.
It was on Dec 6, 1992, that thousands of VHP supporters razed the three-domed 16th-century Babri mosque, years after the radical Hindu group launched a campaign to build a grand Ram temple at the site. Many Hindus believe that Lord Ram was born at the spot.
The VHP activists quickly raised a makeshift temple on the mosque ruins. The VHP wants to eventually replace it with a mammoth Ram shrine.
Work on the temple began in earnest in 1990. But the VHP’s plans have run into rough weather related mainly to a lingering legal dispute over the ownership of the land where the temple is to be constructed.