Maharashtra Forest and Environment Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.
| Photo Credit: Abhinay Deshpande
The first consignment of teakwood from Chandrapur and Gadchiroli forests in Maharashtra is prepared to be dispatched to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh for use within the Ram temple.
Maharashtra Forest and Environment Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar advised The Hindu {that a} grand rally would be held on Wednesday to mark the dispatch of the consignment from the Ballarpur depot to Ayodhya. Deputy Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Devendra Fadnavis, a couple of Ministers within the Uttar Pradesh authorities, a number of MPs, MLAs, and MLCs from Chandrapur and neighbouring districts had been set to take part within the occasion, the Minister mentioned. The star forged of the epic tv serial ‘Ramayana’ (1987) – Arun Govil (Lord Rama), Dipika Chikhlia Topiwala (Sita) and Sunil Lahiri (Lakshmana) and different celebrities — would additionally participate. Bollywood playback singer Kailash Kher would render bhajans of Lord Rama.
Mr. Mungantiwar, who hails from Chandrapur, mentioned that the teakwood would be used to make the principle doorways of the temple, the doorway to the sanctum sanctorum, inside doorways, and different necessities for the temple complicated.
The premium high quality wooden, which is being supplied by means of the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited, will be sent in a number of consignments between March and May.
“When we came to know that the committee overseeing the construction of the temple was looking for teakwood for doors and other works, we sent a proposal, which was in turn sent to the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun for a review. After conducting several tests, the institute came to the conclusion that Chandrapur’s teak is the most durable and suitable for the construction of the mega temple. It is termite-resistant wood and has a life of over 1,000 years,” the Minister mentioned.
While the sandstone used for the development of the temple was sourced from Rajasthan, the shaligram stones anticipated to be used for carving out the idols of Lord Ram and Goddess Janaki had been introduced from Galeshwar Dham in Janakpur, 100 km from Pokhara in Nepal. The “wood is being sent from the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who had grown up listening to the Ramayana and the Mahabharata,” Mr. Mungantiwar mentioned.
“It is a matter of pride for the people of Maharashtra, and especially the Vidarbha region as Lord Rama’s grandmother, Indumati, was the princess of Vidarbha,” he added.
