Ramkatha museum to be handed over to temple trust

Ayodhya, Feb 27 The Uttar Pradesh government will soon hand over the Ramkatha Sangrahalaya in Ayodhya to the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust.

A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed for this.

After this, the museum will display documents pertaining to the decades' old legal battle for Ram temple, as well as the artefacts recovered from Ram Janmabhoomi.

At present the cultural department of the state government runs the Ramkatha Sangrahalaya in Ayodhya.

Earlier this year, Nripendra Mishra, member of Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust, had written a letter to the state government, requesting it to hand over the Ram Katha Sangrahalaya to the Trust.

"The state government has accepted the proposal and the Ramkatha Sangrahalaya will be handed over to the Trust," said a senior official.

Rameshwar Chaupal, a member of the Trust, endorsed this.

Initially, the Trust had planned a museum on the Ram Janmabhoomi campus along with the Ram temple, but the plan was dropped due to security reasons.

"The Trust had planned a museum on the Ram Janmabhoomi campus where all Ramayan-era artefacts were to be exhibited. They were recovered when the campus was dug up (in September 2020) for around 50 feet for laying the temple's foundation. Now, they will be displayed at the Ramkatha Sangrahalaya," he added.

The Ramkatha Sangrahalaya was constructed in 2015 with a budget of Rs 12.31 crore. The single-storey building is spread over three acres of land and has 18 rooms.

"We are expecting a large turnout of devotees at the Ram temple every month after it is opened for devotees. In such a scenario, ensuring security on the Ram Janmabhoomi campus would have become difficult. So, it was decided to drop the plan to construct a museum to avoid additional crowd," he added.

Meanwhile, the Ayodhya administration has started preparing a list of articles in the Ram Katha Sangrahalaya, that has around 150 artefacts of the Ramayan era on display.

These artefacts were recovered during 'kar seva' conducted by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad at Ram Janmabhoomi on July 22, 1992.

The Trust has also identified 11 historic structures on the Ram Janmabhoomi campus that will be preserved and restored in their original form.

Among these are 11 historic places, including Kuber Tila, Sita Koop, Sita Rasoi and Nal, Neel, Angad, and Sugreev Tila.

According to the Trust, around 70 per cent of construction work of the first phase of Ram temple is over.

Celebrations for the grand opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya will begin in December 2023 and end with the installation of Ram Lalla's idol in the sanctum sanctorum on Makar Sankranti in January 2024.