Technical experts to help in selection of idol in Ayodhya

The technical report will advise as to which stone has the longest lifespan and for how many years, the shine will remain intact.

Ayodhya: Technical experts from IIT-Hyderabad and CBRI Roorkee will extend their help in final selection of the idol of Ram Lalla which will, then be installed in the sanctum, sanctorum of the temple in Ayodhya.

The idol will be finalised this month with the consent of Kashis Shankaracharya Vijayendra Saraswati, famous scholar from Varanasi, Ganeshwar Dravid, and a few prominent saints from South India. According to temple sources, the reports of technical experts from IIT-Hyderabad and CBRI, Roorkee, will form the basis of the selection of the final idol.

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The technical report will advise as to which stone has the longest lifespan and for how many years, the shine will remain intact. Since there will be daily worship of the idol with embers and applications of sandalwood, the report will suggest about stains or marks on the idol and which of the three statues will look most attractive when sunlight falls on it.

The selected idol that will be consecrated in the Ram temple will be installed as an immovable statue in the sanctum sanctorum and the present idol of Ram Lalla that has been worshipped since 1949 will be established in the form of a movable idol.

This idol will also be kept in the sanctum sanctorum. Three statues have been made from two stones from Karnataka and one from Rajasthan. The idols have been made by sculptors Ganesh Bhatt of Karnataka, Satyanarayan Pandey of Jaipur and Arun Yogiraj of Karnataka.

Work in garbh griha (sanctum sanctorum or innermost chamber) of the Ram temple where the idol of Lord Ram will be placed is in its final stages. General Secretary of Ram temple trust, Champat Rai, said that garbh griha is almost ready to house the deity.

Electrical work and fittings have also been installed, Rai said. On January 22, the idol of Ram Lalla will be placed in garbh grih. The deadline to complete the ground floor of Ram temple is December 31. counting machines.