The Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections earlier this year has injected new energy into a workshop related to the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya that has seen long periods of inactivity in the 27 years since it was first set up.
The arrival of two successive consignments of sandstone, at the workshop at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s headquarters of Karsevakpuram, after at least 17 months of quiet, has created a buzz around the site where artisans carve the stones and pillars intended to be fitted into the temple the Sangh Parivar hopes to construct at the spot the 464-year-old Babri Masjid stood before it was demolished by kar sevaks on December 6, 1992. Eighteen blocks of sandstone from Rajasthan arrived on July 5, and four blocks a week earlier.
The growing bustle at Karsevakpuram has led to bafflement among a section of Ayodhya’s sadhus as the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case is still pending before the Supreme Court, which has ordered that status quo be maintained at the disputed site.
Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the makeshift Ram temple that stands on the site of the Babri Masjid, said that the arrival of the stones is intended to help…
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