Stones continue to arrive at Ayodhya for Ram temple construction

Ayodhya, Oct 9: Stone-laden trucks continue to arrive at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) workshop Karsevekpuram for the construction of the Ram temple at the Ramjanabhoomi premises. VHP sources here on Monday said that since September 20, trucks laden with stones have started arriving at Karsevekpuram and the carving work was underway. Around eight artisans are working daily for carving these stones to be used for the Ram temple construction. The sources said 70 per cent of the stone carving for the temple has been completed and in next couple of months, all the works will complete. "We want to be ready for the construction of temple whenever we are allowed to do so," the VHP leader said. The two-storied Ram Temple will have 212 pillars with 106 pillars in each floor. Each pillar will be of 16 feet and eight inches height for the first floor and 14 feet and eight inches for the first floor. In each pillar, the artisans are carving 16 faces of God and Goddess. Most of the stones brought here are pink stone from Dholpur in Rajasthan. The stones started arriving in the city from May last after the BJP led Yogi Adityanath government came to power in March. Earlier, the stones for the temple arrived at the workshop in December 2015. After that, the then Samajwadi Party government banned further supplies. When asked about whether it had something to do with 2019 elections, VHP officials denied it. “Supplies for Ram temple have kept on coming since 1990s. Nearly 70 percent work in form of cutting pillars and carving on them has already been done. We want to be fully prepared for the time when temple construction will actually start.” Haji Mahboob, one of the petitioners in the title suit pending before the Supreme Court, said, “It's only politics and posturing‎, nothing else.” "Yogi Adityanath should behave as Chief Minister for all. Unfortunately, he is not doing so. The BJP is trying to fan the Hindu passion with eyes on 2019 Lok Sabha polls. They know they cannot start construction of the Ram Temple,” he said. But the BJP sees it as a routine exercise. State General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, 'The arrival of these stones is not an issue. BJP and our government respects the court and nothing is being done, which is against the directives of courts in the Ramjanambhoomi case.' UNI