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VHP goes ahead with Ram temple construction

Rajesh Ramachandran in New Delhi

Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party has consigned the Ayodhya issue to the backburner, its sibling, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, is going ahead with its plans to erect a temple.

Rather than put the brakes on its temple construction efforts, VHP activists are overseeing the work currently going on in bits and pieces at four sites -- Ajari, Kojura and Pindwara in Shirohi district in Rajasthan and in Ayodhya itself. Further, there is no stealth about the ongoing work, with the VHP distributing photographs of the four workshops quite liberally.

The target is to complete half the temple in the next three years, by which time the VHP expects the BJP to clear the way for erecting the structure at Ayodhya. With funds flowing in liberally from all over, the initial budget for the multi-storeyed temple is a little over Rs 300 million.

"The Ram temple will be more than 140 feet high. Now almost two per cent of the work, that is 32 feet high pillars, have been completed. More than 125 people are on the job continuously," Chamaptrai, the VHP general secretary in charge of the temple construction, told Rediff On The NeT. Now the pillars are being constructed, for which 275,000 cubic feet of stone would be used, apart from the stone blocks for the garbha griha.

Chandrakant Sompura, whose father was associated in rebuilding the Somnath temple, is the architect for the VHP's proposed temple in Ayodhya.

Even if this flies in the face of the BJP's claims of not pursuing the temple construction, the VHP's actions are in consonance with the decision taken at the parishad's governing council meeting on Thursday, April 2. VHP working president Ashok Singhal says he is ready for negotiations to have the temple constructed at the disputed site, as suggested by the BJP.

"We are holding a meeting of the sants in Hardwar on April 9, 10 and 11 at which our future course of action would be decided. Even in 1992, the decision to perform kar seva was taken by the Sant Samaj," says Lokesh Pratap Singh, a VHP activist.

The VHP hopes to construct the temple in bits and pieces, to prepare for a time when the BJP will be able to enact legislation that would make the temple become a reality.

EARLIER FEATURE:
December 6, 1992: A Memoir

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