Ayodhya: Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust chairman Mahant Nritya Gopal Das on Tuesday paid obeisance to deity Ram Lalla at the makeshift temple in Ayodhya and announced the construction of the Ram temple from today.

Ahead of the start of the construction work, the Mahant, who also headed the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas, performed puja today morning.

After 27 years, on March 25, 2020, Lord Ram Lalla was moved out of the makeshift temple in Ayodhya and the idol was shifted in a palanquin to Manas Bhawan in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The makeshift temple structure is made of fibre and is bulletproof.

Ending a century-old dispute, the Supreme Court on November 9, 2019 paved the way for the construction of a Ram Temple by a Trust at the disputed site at Ayodhya. While announcing its verdict, a 5-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had said, “The faith of the Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the demolished structure is undisputed.”

The SC bench, also comprising Justices S A Bobde, Ashok Bhushan, DY Chandrachud, and S Abdul Nazeer asked the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for the construction of a mosque.

The apex court in a unanimous 5-0 verdict had said the possession of the disputed 2.77 acre land rights will be handed over to the deity ‘Ram Lalla’.

Meanwhile, huge sum of donations have been pouring in for the construction of a grand temple in Ayodhya. Acharya Satyendra Das, chief priest of the Ram temple, said, “We are confident that there will be no shortage of money for the temple. People are donating huge sums of money for the project and we will make sure that the temple that is built is unmatched in magnificence and grandeur.”