The Shri Ram Janambhoomi Temple in Ayodhya will open on January 1 next year, Home Minister Amit Shah announced last week. The trustees say Ram Lalla idol will be installed in the ‘garbgriha’ on ground floor of the temple on December 30 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present on the occasion.
Once open, the temple could see over one lakh devotees daily and by 2047, more than 10 crore devotees can visit Ayodhya annually, the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government has estimated. This huge increase in pilgrims means the Uttar Pradesh government is gearing up to develop Ayodhya with a mega Rs 32,000 crore plan, involving 264 projects executed by as many as 37 agencies to transform the face of Ayodhya into a global tourism and spiritual destination. The temple’s construction will cost Rs 1,800 crore, entirely from donations.
Let’s first detail the full blueprint before assessing the impact the temple will have on the politics of India in 2024.
The Blueprint
One must remember that only the ground floor of the temple would be complete on December 30 this year. The Ram Lalla idols would be installed here and will be opened for public Darshan in January next year. The Temple trust is not waiting for the entire temple to be ready before opening it for public Darshan. The first and the second floors of the temple would take another year to complete, by December 30, 2024, and the entire premises over 71 acres would be complete in 2025.
While the original Ram Lalla idols will be installed in the new temple, a new Lord Ram idol could also be installed of about 3 feet height so that the idols can be seen at a distance from 19 meters by devotees, the Construction Committee Chairman Nripendra Misra said in a recent interaction with DD News. The temple’s life will be over 1,000 years, the Trust has said.
A big network of highways, roads, infrastructure, townships, grand entrance gates, multi-level parking facilities and a new airport is coming up in Ayodhya as part of the sprucing up of the town, with 264 projects worth nearly Rs 32,000 crore. Out of them, there are 143 projects worth Rs 22,500 crore which have been identified as “priority projects” which are to be completed by 2024 when the Temple opens for the public.
Nearly 10 national and international studies have been conducted regarding this plan and a ‘Vision 2047’ has been drawn up for Ayodhya, which focusses on making it a global spiritual capital, a big tourism destination and a sustainable smart city as part of ‘Brand Ayodhya’. A free-field Vedic township, a new international airport, a redeveloped railway station, construction of new prime roads and Saryu river development plan along with historic city circuits and heritage walks are the part of this.
Only Modi Could Make It Possible
The BJP has for long maintained that the temple is not about politics but ‘aastha’ of millions. But in repeated elections since August 5, 2020, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi did the ‘bhoomi-poojan’ of the temple in Ayodhya after the Supreme Court judgement paved the way, the temple has featured in the political discourse. Top BJP leaders have not failed to point out that in no other regime would the temple have come up.
This is expected to escalate in the run-up to the 2024 general elections as the temple becomes a reality and emerges before the people. The Congress and Samajwadi Party would be attacked for derailing the temple’s construction for years. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly visited the make-shift temple in the last three years, top Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka have not visited the site.
Similarly, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has visited the temple site almost every month, former UP chief ministers like Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati have stayed away. Senior BJP leaders told this writer that it remains to be seen if the Gandhis or leaders like Yadav and Mayawati visit the temple once it opens as they would face a political whammy if they don’t.
“While the 2019 Lok Sabha election narrative was about surgical strikes and the quick revocation of Article 370 in J&K post that big win, the Ram Temple will become the big narrative in the 2024 general elections. People from across the country are eager to see the temple,” a BJP leader said.
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