Know the master architects :A family involves in building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya

 

His grandfather Prabhashankar Sompura had designed the Somnath temple in 1949 on the Gujarat coast inaugurated by the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, in 1951. Prabhashankar was later honoured with the Padma Shri.

Biswabrata Goswami

Hummingbird News       

KRISHNAGAR, 6 AUG: A 78-year-old man, who first visited the site where the Babri Masjid once stood more than 30 years ago, will lead the family team for building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Chandrakant Sompura, now 78, had designed the Ram Mandir in 1989 at the request of the then Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief, late Ashok Singhal. Industrialist Ghanshyamdas Birla asked him if he would take up the Ram Mandir project, and introduced him to Singhal.

Chandrakant Sompura is the 15th generation of the Ahmedabad-based family that has been into temple architecture, having constructed over 200 temples  in India and abroad.                                                         

His grandfather Prabhashankar Sompura had designed the Somnath temple in 1949 on the Gujarat coast inaugurated by the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, in 1951. Prabhashankar was later honoured with the Padma Shri.

The family has a long list of temples to its credit including Akshardham in Gujarat, Swaminarayan mandir in Mumbai and Birla Mandir in Calcutta.

But for the family, the Somnath temple is the closest to their heart. The Sompuras believe that their ancestors were taught the art of temple building by the divine architect Vishwakarma himself.

According to the report, Sompura had drawn up 2-3 plans for the temple, one of which was approved by the VHP, which had then taken up the task of building the temple. A wooden model was made, and at the Kumbh Mela that followed, the model was placed before the assembled sadhus, who gave their approval.

Following the verdict of the Supreme Court last year, the design of the temple was modified and it would be almost double the size of what was originally planned.

According to the version of Sompura, the temple will be constructed in Nagara style of architecture and will have five domes instead of two. The project is likely to be completed in the next three years once the construction work commences following the bhoomi pujan event held on Wednesday.

According to the report written by Leena Misra in The Indian Express, the temple has been planned in the Nagar ‘shaili’ (a style of temple architecture where the temple tower is built over the sanctum sanctorum. The other major style is the Dravidian, which includes gopurams), and is far bigger than what had been originally planned.

Three more spires have been added, one in front and two at the sides, to extend the gudh mandap (the covered porch); the number of columns has gone up from around 160 in the original plan to 366 (160 on the ground floor, 132 on first floor, 74 on second floor); the width of the stairway to the ‘Ram Darbar’ on the first floor has been expanded from 6 feet to 16 feet. The height of the temple has been increased from 141 feet to 161 feet, its width from 160 feet to 235 feet, and its length from 280 feet to 360 feet.

The expansion was made because the government wanted space for “more people”, says Ashish, son of Sompura. As per the plan, each column will have 16 idols, which will include the ‘Dashavataras’, the ‘chausath joginis’, all the incarnations of Shiva, and the 12 incarnations of the Goddess Saraswati.

The unique feature of the Ram Mandir will be the octagonal shape of the sanctum sanctorum, in keeping with the design provided in the shastras for a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu.