"First phase of Ram Mandir to be completed by this December": Ram Temple construction committee chairman Nripendra Misra

New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI): The first phase of the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will be completed by December 30 this year, Nripendra Misra, who heads the construction committee of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said on Monday.

Misra, who was also the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that the temple is being constructed in three phases and the devotees will be able to enter the temple after the completion of the first phase.

Speaking to ANI, the construction committee head said that the five 'mandaps' on the ground floor, besides other works, will be completed in the first phase.

"The Trust has taken the decision that the first phase of the Ram Temple should be completed by December 30, 2023. In the first phase, the five 'mandaps' on the ground floor, out of which the most prominent is the sanctum sanctorum where God's idol will be installed, should be completed," he said.

Misra informed that there are nearly 160 pillars in the construction of the five mandaps.

"The work of iconography (visual images and symbols) in them should be completed. A brief description of Lord Ram on the lower plinth of the Temple will be started (in the first phase), and the electricity facility and other facilities should be completed. All these works will be completed by December 30, 2023," he said.

"The first and second storeys of the Temple including the percota (outer perimeter) will be completed by December 30, 2024," Misra added.

He further informed that the "idol will be installed, the devotees will be able to visit by the end of this year".

"Efforts are being made to accomplish these works by December 30, 2023," Misra added.

Asked about the time frame within which the construction of the entire temple will be complete, the committee head said that the complex of the Temple will be ready in December 2025. 

"The first phase will be completed by December 2023, the second by December 2024 and the third by December 2025 when the complex will also be completed. As the chairman, it is my effort that by December 30, 2023, the devotees can see their lord," he said.

Notably, Union Minister Home Minister Amit Shah had announced that the Ram Temple will be opened for devotees by January 1, next year.

Talking about the estimates of the construction of the Temple, the committee head said that it falls between Rs 1400 crore and Rs 1800 crore.

"It is estimated that a minimum of Rs 1400 crore to Rs 1500 crore and a maximum of Rs 1800 crore will be the expenditure in the construction of the  Ram Temple. There will be a minimum expenditure of Rs 300 crore in the construction of the ground floor," he said.

Earlier on May 18, General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Champat Rai shared pictures of the statues which are under construction as the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is underway in full swing.

Champat Rai said that these statues are carved on a stone which is based on stories from 'Shastras'.

On November 9, 2019, a five-judge Supreme Court bench led by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi ruled in favour of Ram Lalla and said that the entire disputed land spread over 2.7 acres will be handed over to a trust formed by the government, which will monitor the construction of a Ram Temple at the site. (ANI)