It is an anecdote that the Sompura family will repeat for generations to come. Chandrakant B Sompura, the principal architect of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, was first approached to design and build the temple in 1989 by Ashok Singhal, President of VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad). When Sompura was taken to Ayodhya and shown the site, his first reaction was to observe that there was a structure there already! He was sent in to take a look and take measurements of the space. Owing to heavy security, he had to measure the space with his feet and crafted three designs based on these dimensions.
Decades later, his two sons, Nikhil and Ashish Sompura, have assisted him in the creation of the Ram Mandir. “At that time, we didn’t think of it as something so significant,” said Ashish Sompura, who was about 19-20 years old and studying architecture. “I never thought I would be closely associated with the Ram Mandir because no one knew what was really going to happen. At that time, it was just a temple that my father had to do and when the (Babri Masjid) demolition happened, there was this intense media glare that took things to another level. But yes, when our father was approached, the feeling was like Daddy is doing a certain temple and it is a normal thing for us. No one knew about the significance of Ram Mandir or what the VHP was doing to make it happen.”
The Ram Mandir has several firsts, and from the architectural point of view, the most significant one is the design itself. According to Ashish, the Ram Mandir is the first temple in the world to have had a 3D structural analysis even before it was built. “Normally, a temple built according to the ancient Shilpa shastras has a stable structure that’s designed to last. But here, since the government was also involved, there was a demand for the proof of its stability. The analysis was done by CBRI (CSIR's Central Building Research Institute), a renowned Indian institution. We are proud to say that with just 5 to 10 per cent changes, our design was proven to be safe for 2,500 years!”
After the Supreme Court judgment in 2019, the temple trustees finalized on the Sompuras once again as the design consultant and L&T as the construction agency.
Traditional rituals, in accordance with Shilpa shastras, were performed before the actual construction began.
Mandapas
The original design for the Ram Mandir by Chandrakant Sompura had to be tweaked to make it grander. “Originally, there were two mandapas planned, the Kuda mandapa and the Ranga mandapa,” Ashish says. “Now, there are five mandapas – Kuda mandapa, Ranga mandapa, Nritya mandapa, and two mandapas at the side – the Prarthana mandapa and the Kirtan mandapa. Pilgrims who wish to pray or listen to Ram bhajans can sit at these two mandapas. Those who are in line for the darshan will not be impeded by others wishing to take some minutes to quietly pray.”
Architectural style
The temple, constructed in the Nagara style, stands on a solid stone foundation. Notably, approximately two lakh bricks inscribed with Lord Ram's name in various languages, collected over 30 years, are integrated into the temple structure. The temple stands on a 12-foot jagati and an upper plinth known as the mahapeeth. The stepped shikharas rise high over the five mandapas and the one over the garba griha is the tallest at 161 feet. The kuda mandapa is three stories high. There will be 300 pillars across the mandapas and 44 teak doors.
“The doors on the ground floor are gold plated,” Ashish mentions. The granite stones have been sourced from Karnataka and Telangana while pink sandstone has been sourced from Bans Paharpur in Rajasthan. “Since we wanted to make it zero-carbon, only 30 per cent of the land has been built up. The rest is delegated to greenery. Waste management is also according to the zero-carbon policy and there are two sewage treatment plants.”
Temples within
The Ram Mandir sits on 70 acres, of which the temple and the complex occupy 5.5 acres. “Initially, it was thought that we have to create a boundary or perkota which is kind of a protective boundary wall for the safety of the temple,” Ashish notes. “Instead, the Trust and us decided to have a Vishnu Panchayatan where five temples, of Hanuman, Durga, Ganesha, Shiva and Surya, will be there. On the northern side of the temple where Sita’s Rasoi was there (it got destroyed during the Babri Masjid demolition), we have made a kitchen where Lord Ram’s bhog will be made and there is also an Annapurneshwari Temple. So, there will be six temples in all apart from the Ram Mandir."
Storytelling and the Sanatan Dharma
“We have tried to make the temple as the centre of the Sanatan,” Ashish explains. “Everywhere there are stories to be seen. On the lower plinth, we have created a three-dimensional retelling of the Ramayana in stone. The story is in line with the description in Valmiki Ramayana and starts with the birth of Rama to the time he finally enters the city of Ayodhya after killing Ravana. Artists have first created sketches, clay models and fibre models in that order and only then rendered in stone. In the corridor or the perkota, there are two-dimensional brass murals depicting the major sages and prasangas of the Sanatan Dharma. The pillars too have carvings of gods, devanganas and divine beings.” Thousands of artisans from all over the country have been involved in the creation of the extensive and detailed storytelling.
The architects
Chandrakant B. Sompura’s grandfather, P.O. Sompura, designed the Somnath Mandir in Gujrat in 1949. He comes from a family of temple architects and is the 15th generation continuing with the legacy. Today, the family has designed over 200 temples worldwide, including the Swaminarayan Mandir in Mumbai, Akshardham temple complex in Gujrat, and the Birla Temple in Kolkata. Although they have focused on Ram Mandir over the past few years, there are several other temples, including three major Devi temples in Gujrat, that the Sompura family is designing.
Ashish notes, “The feeling that comes to my mind is that my great-grandfather did the Somnath Mandir and today, my father and I have done the Ram Mandir, which are two major temples built in post-Independence India. It is a proud moment for our family.”
Engineering
According to Ashish, the construction techniques and the engineering have been precise. The top soil, up to 15 meters, was removed on the advice of experts from IIT Chennai because it was clayey and was replaced with re-engineered soil. A 15-meter-thick layer of compacted concrete was the base on which the temple was built. The self-compacting concrete was filled into the foundation at night in order to minimize the impact of external temperatures. On-site ice crushing plants were utilized to stabilize the temperature. The region’s earthquake history was simulated in the laboratory and the foundation designed is said to withstand earthquakes of up to 6.5 magnitude.
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