Working to a plan

Sandstone pillars intended for the proposed Ram temple are being crafted in Pindwara, a small town in Rajasthan.

SUNNY SEBASTIAN
in Pindwara

PINDWARA, a nondescript town on the southwestern fringe of Rajasthan, is suddenly in the limelight. It is here that the pink sandstone pillars for the Hindutva combine's proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya are being given shape to.

The Bharatiya Janata Party may proclaim its innocence about the goings-on in three stone-carving units in Pindwara tehsil in Sirohi district. But the preparations for the construction of a temple in Ayodhya are progressing steadily in the BJP-ruled State. As many as 32 pillars, all carved out of sandstone blocks obtained from the mines of Bansi Paharpur near Bharatpur, were carted to Ayodhya in April.

Three units that specialise in making components for prefabricated temples - Sompura Marble Industries and Temple Works in Pindwara, Bharat Shilpa Kala Kendra in Kojra and Mahadev Shilpa Kala Kendra in Ajari - were entrusted with the job by the VHP. Parts of such temples are crafted separately and assembled together by the buyers at the places of their choice. Sompura Marble Industries has helped construct 35 such temples in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. According to Paresh Chand Sompura of the Sompura group, almost 80 per cent of a temple can be built in this manner. "In the case of the Ayodhya temple," he said, "I have been told that the plinth is already there and the rest is an assembling job."

A visit to Pindwara, a 10-hour drive from Jaipur, revealed that the local population, most of whom work in units that craft temples, know that components for the proposed temple in Ayodhya are being readied here. According to the local people, work on the 16.5-foot pillars, which weigh about four tonnes each, began in 1995. It was only in January 26 the next year that VHP working president Ashok Singhal formally inaugurated the work.

Men, women and children of the Garasia tribe and two Scheduled Caste groups, the Rebaris and the Meghwals, cut and carved into shape as many as 32 pillars by April. The men are paid Rs.65 to 100 a day and the women and children half this amount. The Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas reportedly pays Rs.550 a cubic foot to the carving units. If carried out in Ayodhya, the same work would cost Rs.1,100 a cubic foot.

The sandstone blocks are brought from mines 600 km away. It appears that under an arrangement between the VHP and the three units, the VHP is responsible for supplying the blocks and transporting the finished pillars to Ayodhya. Payments are said to be made from the account of the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas at the Pindwara branch of the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur.

ALTHOUGH the VHP leadership at Sirohi and Jaipur mince no words about the work, BJP leaders are reticent. When asked about the work, Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said that "nothing unusual" was happening. According to senior government officials at Sirohi, Shekhawat did not evince any interest in the work during his four visits to the district headquarters in the past two years.

Ashok Singhal is said to have visited Pindwara twice. His last visit was in January this year. Singhal's nephew, Arvind Singhal, owns a stone powder factory, Wolkem India, at Pindwara. Although Arvind Singhal's name is mentioned by the local people in connection with the ongoing work, enquiries at his factory showed that he is mostly in Udaipur, looking after a family concern there.

The State administration and the local BJP leadership try to convince visiting newspersons that there has been no acceleration in the pace of the work. Their denials come in the context of a general feeling that the VHP is probably speeding up the work since the BJP is in power at the Centre.

GOPAL SUNGER
Artisans at work at Mahadev Shilpa Kala Kendra in Ajari village in Rajasthan.

THE first batch of pillars, meant for the rang mandap and the garbha griha, has been despatched to Ayodhya. Paresh Sompura said: "These pillars were a priority. The other parts will be taken up now." According to him, if the work progresses at the current pace it will take eight years to complete the project. However, it could be finished in four years at a faster pace, he said. The next to be readied are the mandovars (temple walls) as per the design prepared by Chandrakant Sompura, an Ahmedabad-based architect. The shikhar (pinnacle) is also likely to be crafted at Pindwara.

While Sompura Marble Industries has almost finished the work assigned to it, the Mahadev Shilpa Kala Kendra is racing against time to finish the work on the second lot of 10 pillars. Manchharam Malviya, an artisan working with Mahadev Shilpa Kala Kendra, said: "We require another eight months to complete the work on hand." According to Manchharam's son Naresh Lohar, there has been no acceleration in the pace of work.

Hansraj Purohit, general secretary of the BJP's Sirohi district unit, said: "This is a VHP programme. We are not concerned with it." Purohit said that the local population was no longer concerned about the Ayodhya temple issue. "The people are not aware of the work going on here and even if they are, they are not bothered," he said. Purohit's outburst probably has its roots in his party's poor performance in Rajasthan in the Lok Sabha elections. "The BJP does not have time to take care of its own programmes," he said. "How do you think that it is in a position to undertake this (temple construction), which is essentially part of the VHP agenda?"

However, leaders of the rest of the Sangh Parivar hold a different view. They seem to be keen to convey the message that the work on the temple components has been speeded up. Amrit Khatri, treasurer of the VHP in Pindwara block, claimed that "there is a lot of enthusiasm among the general public here."

Evidently, the Parivar appears to be divided on the issue. The only time they reportedly came together was during the mahurat ceremony in January 1996. Thereafter local BJP, VHP or RSS workers were not reportedly involved in the project. The VHP's central leadership and the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas appear to be monitoring it directly.

For now, Pindwara is calm. It may, however, be the calm before the storm.

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