Ram Temple: Makrana marble, pink sandstone from Rajasthan, granite from Tamil Nadu and Telangana

Also, teakwood procured from the Balarshah and Allapalli forest ranges of Maharashtra has been used in 44 doors of the temple, including 14 which will have gold-plating work, the officials said.

“Ye Hindustan ki collective engineering ka result hai (this is an outcome of India’s collective engineering endeavour),” Trust secretary Champat Rai said on Tuesday.

Glimpses from under-construction Ram Temple in Ayodhya. SRJBT

The temple complex will have its own sewage and water treatment plants, fire service, and an independent power station, Rai said, adding that experts from IITs in Delhi, Guwahati, Chennai and Bombay; NIT Surat; Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee; National Geo Research Institute, Hyderabad and the National Institute of Rock Mechanics worked together to give the final shape to the temple.

More than 4,000 workers, including 460 craftsmen, are working round the clock to ready the temple’s ground floor for the consecration ceremony (Pran Pratistha) of Ram idol on January 22. “This is purely an Indian endeavour. Even the agencies hired for the construction work are Indian,” he claimed.

Emphasising that the experts worked to make the structure last for 1,000 years, Rai said iron was not used anywhere in the temple as the metal’s maximum life is 200 years.

Structural engineer Girish Sahasrabhojanee, the trust’s design and construction manager, said, “We did not use iron as it gets oxidised and would have shortened the life span of the temple. We did not use concrete much as it develops cracks. After a lot of research, it was decided to adopt the age-old traditional methods of temple construction by using ston that lasts for at least 1000 years.”

Since it was feared that the seepage from the Saryu river might damage the structure early, it was decided to construct a retaining wall of granite, he said, adding that the temple will be able to handle a footfall of 2 lakh pilgrims in a day.

Trust project manager Jagdish Aphale said they studied 550 temples across India to find the best possible construction models. “The temple premises can accommodate 1,500 people at a time. After studying the damage to some old temples in Mathura and Kashi due to lightning strikes, it was decided to install 200KA light arrester over the temple structure, which has been tested for the first time in India. As pilgrims take parikrama of the temple, the walkways and columns have been engraved with 100 events from Valmiki’s Ramayana and would include Ram Katha Darshan,” said Aphale, who is also in-charge of pilgrimage management.

There will not be so-called “special aartis” or “special darshan” as is done in some temples, the pilgrims here will be allowed entry in four lanes, he said. No flowers or “prasad” from outside would be allowed as they will be provided by the Trust at a designated place, Aphale added.

Those involved in the construction work said that they have been instructed to stop all construction activities by January 15, and start cleaning and beautification of the premises for the consecration ceremony.

Ayodhya road adorned with sun-themed pillars

Ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, a set of imposing sun-themed pillars — ‘Surya Stambhs’ — are being installed along a prominent road of the temple town.

Each of the 30-foot-high pillars has an ornamental orb which when lit at night resembles the sun.

A senior official at the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department said 40 such pillars will be installed on the road — Dharam Path —that connects the Lata Mangeshkar Chowk near Naya Ghat with the Ayodhya Bypass.

“Work is underway to install these ‘Surya Stambhs’ ahead of the consecration of Lord Ram’s idol in the newly built Ram temple. Twenty of these will be located near the Lata Mangeshkar Chowk with 10 pillars on each side of the road,” PWD Assistant Engineer AP Singh said.

Ten pillars were already installed, while ornamental orbs on the 10 columns on the other side of the road were being mounted. “The other 20 pillars are located on the same road beyond the Satrangi Pul near the Saket petrol pump. Work is underway on that side as well and the aim is to complete the work by December 29,” Singh said.