Yogi to lay foundation stone of Ram temple's 'Garbh Griha' in Ayodhya

Ayodhya, June 1: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached Ayodhya on Wednesday to attend an event regarding the under-construction Ram temple that marks a significant milestone in the process.

The Chief Minister will be taking part in a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the 'Garbh Griha' or the sanctum sanctorum of the temple by placing the first carved stone in it.

In a statement issued last week, the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, which is heading the temple's construction, had said white marbles from the Makrana hills of Rajasthan would be used in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.

The Ram temple trust said the total stone volume to be used for the temple project included eight to nine lakh cubic feet of carved sandstone, 6.37 lakh cubic feet of uncarved granite, 4.70 lakh cubic feet of carved pink sandstone for the temple and 13,300 cubic feet of Makrana white carved marble for the sanctum sanctorum.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the 'bhoomi pujan' or the foundation stone laying ceremony for the temple in August 2020 after which its construction had started.

The temple is expected to be ready just before the 2024 general elections.

Meanwhile, Yogi Adityanath's visit to Ayodhya for the ceremony comes at a significant time for Uttar Pradesh when court cases over disputes involving mosques -- the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi next to the Kashi Viswanath temple and the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura next to the 'Krishna Janmabhoomi' or the birthplace of Lord Krishna -- are being heard in courts.