A jigsaw in Ayodhya

Behind the closed gates of a 10-acre plot in Ramgarh Chauraha, artisans prefabricate parts for the Ram temple.

VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN

RAMGHAT CHAURAHA is situated close to Karsevakpuram, where Hindutva activists camped during the tumultuous days of the Ayodhya agitation, and approximately 2 km from where the Babri Masjid stood. It is a quiet place unlike other religious centres in Ayodhya now. There is no constant flow of pilgrims or the chanting of hymns. However, there is activity behind the closed gates of a 10-acre plot in the chauraha (square). Here artisans are at work on the parts of the temple the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) wants to build at the site of the mosque. A board displayed outside announces: Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Nirman Karyashala (construction workshop).

Two 16.5-foot-high pillars, with images of deities carved on them, have been used to create an arch, which has been placed near the entrance. Enquiries reveal that these would be used in the proposed temple. About 100 artisans, hailing from Rajasthan, and Mirzapur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, work on sandstone blocks scattered across the plot. A stone-cutting machine shapes the blocks into required sizes.

The task of the artisans is to prefabricate the base and 212 pillars of the proposed two-storeyed temple. Employed by Sompura Marble Industries, they have been carving the designs created by Chandrakant Sompura, the architect. Kamala Shankar Sompura, a representative of the company, supervises the work, while Narendra Upadhya, a senior VHP member, oversees the operations. The overall coordination of the work in Ayodhya and Rajasthan is done by Champat Rai, joint secretary of the VHP.

N. SRINIVASAN
Prefabricated pillars inside the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Nirman Karyashala in Ayodhya.

THE artisans working in Ayodhya have completed work on 18 pillars. Unlike the two that are displayed, the rest do not bear the images of deities. According to Upadhya, the images would be sculpted on them only after the construction begins.

The proposed temple will have three types of pillars. One set of 72 pillars will be 16.5 feet high, while another set of 72 will be 14.5 feet high. These are for the ground floor and the first floor respectively. The third set of 68 pillars, with heights ranging from 3.63 feet 12.9 feet, will be used for both the floors. According to workers at the Ayodhya Karyashala, each pillar is formed by joining seven stone blocks. Five or six artisans work for over 15 months to complete one pillar. Sculpting the images after the pillars are erected at the site would take another three months, the workers said.

According to Upadhya, if the work proceeds at the current pace, it will take five years to get the pillars ready and another five years to assemble the prefabricated base and pillars at the proposed site. He, however, said that the pace could a change if the VHP's Margdarshak Mandal wanted. "Already," he said, "there are indications that the work will pick up momentum." Upadhya's statement assumes significance in the light of the fact that the VHP purchased two acres of land adjoining the Karyashala recently to build "quarters for at least 500 workers".

According to VHP leaders such as Ashok Singhal, the prefabrication work will be completed in another two years. This will, however, mean increasing the size of the workforce to at least 1,000. Indications are that the VHP is likely to do so in the next six months.

Upadhya said that the Ayodhya Karyashala started functioning in 1989, immediately after the shilanyas, and work on the first sandstone pillar began in 1991. He denied that the pace of work had been accelerated after the BJP came to power at the Centre. According to Champat Rai, the VHP leadership decided to instal a stone-cutting machine and a generator because the Rs.8.29-crore fund, which was accumulating "dead interest", could be put to better use. He said that there was no plan to speed up the work in the "near future". "But if we are to complete the prefabrication on schedule," Rai told Frontline, "more workers will have to be employed and the machinery will have to be upgraded."

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