Fourteen doors, carved from especially procured Sangwan wood from Maharashtra will be gilded in gold in the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.
A source at the Shri Ram Jambhoomi Teerth Kshetra said that while meeting the January 22 deadline was a challenge, work was on all 24 hours.
Since the Prime Minister gave his nod to the invitation for the ceremony, on Wednesday, work has picked up even more speed.
Of the major tasks that remain to be finished is the carving of the pink sandstone pillars at the mandir. “There is no room for error there as every carving has been meticulously planned,” said the source.
The doors will be plated with gold worth Rs 10-12 crore. The first batch of these 14 doors will be installed on the ground floor. Doors on the upper floors shall also be similarly gilded. There will be a total of 46 such doors. Between the wood and the gold will be a layer of copper.
Four workers from Delhi are responsible for moulding and fitting the doors. About 10 of these doors have also been test-fitted. The carving of the wooden doors is done by experts from Hyderabad.
The most stand-out areas of the ground floor include the Singh Dwar, Rang mandap (the large sequential space in front of the deity), keertan mandap (hymn hall) and the garb grih (sanctum sanctorum).
Meanwhile, a bhakt from Karnataka is on his way to Ayodhya with a one-kilo throne of gold and an eight-kilo silver paduka (wooden footwear worn by ascetics, which consists of a sole with just a post and a knob).
C Srinivasan has had the two offerings blessed by the Shankchracharya of Kanchi. He has embarked on a journey by foot from Hyderabad and will reach Ayodhya by January 15. The distance between the two cities is upwards of 1,300 km.
Srinivasan had also gifted five silver bricks during the bhoomi poojan.
