New Delhi: The trust in charge of the Ayodhya Ram temple project has decided that the Lord Ram idol to be installed at the under-construction temple will be in the form of an archer and carved out of "krishna shila" or black stone from Karnataka. Arun Yogiraj, a well-known sculptor from Mysuru, will carve the five-foot-tall idol. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust finalised the specifications of the idol during a two-day meeting that ended late Tuesday evening here. "The new Lord Ram idol, in his five-year-old avatar, will stand five feet tall." "The idol will be in a standing posture, armed with a bow and arrow," news agency PTI quoted trust member Swami Teerth Prasannyacharya as saying on Wednesday.


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"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 while speaking to PTI.


Also Read: 'Ram Lalla's idol will be installed on..': Ayodhya Ram temple trust gen secretary makes BIG announcement


Trust general secretary Champat Rai said they selected "krishna shila" following consultations among seers, geologists, sculptors, experts of Hindu scriptures and trust office-bearers.


Devotees are eagerly waiting for the new idol of Ram Lalla that is to be placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on the festival of Makar Sankranti next year, he said.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the "bhoomi pujan" for the construction of the temple on August 2, 2020. The temple is being constructed following the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute.


In its ruling on November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court mandated that a Ram temple be built on the 2.77-acre site where the Babri Masjid once stood and that five acres be set aside for the construction of a mosque within the district of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.


Ayodhya Ram Temple Opening Date 


Earlier this year in January, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will be ready by January 1 next year (2024). Adding to Shah’s statement, the temple’s trust general secretary Champat Rai stated that the Ram Mandir’s construction will be completed “on time”.


"As per the plan, the idol of Ram Lalla will be installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on Makar Sankranti (January 14) in 2024," said the general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust set up for the construction and management of the temple.