Ayodhya Ram Temple: Original Ram Lalla idol to be placed in front of new idol

The old idol of Lord Ram will be placed in front of the new idol which will be consecrated at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, said a report by PTI citing Govind Dev Giri, the treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

Currently, the old idol of Lord Ram is kept in a makeshift shrine.

“It (the original Ram Lalla idol) will be placed in front of Ram Lalla. The original idol is very important. It is five to six inches in height and cannot be seen from a distance of 25 to 30 feet. That is why we needed a bigger idol,” said Giri, as per PTI report.

Last week, a 51-inch Ram Lalla idol was placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Temple.

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Three idols of Lord Ram were built from which the one sculpted by Mysuru-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj has been selected for “Pran Prathistha”.

“We shall place them in the temple with all honour and respect. One of the idols will be kept with us since we will need it to measure the clothes and ornaments of Prabhu Shri Ram,” said Giri, as per PTI report. “It was very difficult for us to choose one idol out of three. All of them are very beautiful all followed the criteria provided by us,” said Giri on the selection of the Ram Lalla idol sculpted by Arun Yogiraj. “The first criterion was that the face should be child-like with a divine glow. Lord Ram was “ajaanbaahu” (a person whose arms reach near the knees). So the arms should be of that length.”

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The one chosen for the consecration ceremony was “stout and had a good personality”. The limbs were in the correct proportion, the treasurer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust said.

More than ₹1,100 crore has so far been spent in constructing the Ram Temple and another ₹300 crore might be needed to complete the work, Giri also said.