The trust entrusted with the project has decided that the archer-shaped "krishna shila," or black stone from Karnataka, will be used to create the idol of Ram Lalla that will be installed at the temple that is currently under construction in Ayodhya, reported news agency PTI. The well-known sculptor Arun Yogiraj of Mysore will use black stones (Krishna shila) from Karnataka to carve out the standing idol of 5-year-old Ram Lalla in the form of an archer.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust finalised the idol's specifications during its two-day meeting on Tuesday evening.
"The new idol of Lord Ram, in his five-year-old avatar, will be five-foot tall. The idol will be in a standing posture armed with a bow and arrow," trust member Swami Teerth Prasannyacharya said here on Wednesday.
"Arun Yogiraj will carve the idol out of stone brought to Ayodhya from Karnataka's Karkar and Hegge Deven Kote villages.... The sculptor will finalise the stone which the idol will be carved out of," he added.
According to Champat Rai, general secretary of the trust, they decided on "krishna shila" after consulting with experts in Hindu scriptures, geologists, sculptors, and office-bearers.
Devotees are eagerly waiting for the new idol of Ram Lalla that will be put in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on the celebration of Makar Sankranti one year from now, he said.
On August 2, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out the "bhoomi pujan" in support of the temple's construction.
Following the Supreme Court's decision in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute, construction on the temple has begun.
The Supreme Court issued a ruling on November 9, 2019, directing the construction of a Ram temple on the 2.77-acre site of the Babri Masjid and the use of five acres for the construction of a mosque in the Uttar Pradesh district of Ayodhya.
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