Ayodhya mosque to carry no past baggage; will be a modern building

KEY STORY

• On August 4, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had participated in the Bhoomi Pujan at Ayodhya Ram Mandir site.

• Since the Centre has also announced a plot of land at the village Dhannipur site for a grand mosque as a part of the agreement in the Ram Lalla Janmabhoomi case, there has been curious about the design of the mosque.

• The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) Trust released the artist’s impression of the Dhannipur mosque project spread over five-acre land given to the trust as per the order of the Supreme Court.

• The proposed masjid at Ayodhya’s Dhannipur will be a modern structure and it will be energy efficient.

• Dhannipur mosque is in a way an allotment for the amicable agreement out of the long-drawn litigation over the temple on the birthplace of Lord Rama being felled by Mughal emperor Babar to build a mosque in the 16th century – a place that was later felled by an angry mob on 6th December 1992.

• There was every likelihood, therefore, that the Trust in-charge could have carried forth some details from the past.

  “We will not take any symbolism or design element from the past or from medieval times. The mosque’s design is contemporary and will be an energy-efficient one, Subject to formal clearance of the plan, the project – when put into full-swing – will take only two years to completion, announced IICF Trust in Lucknow at a press conference on Saturday.

  The Times of India reports that as IICF tries to come out of the shadows of the demolished Babri Masjid, IICF now hopes to call not just people for prayer but also calls out towards a “syncretic and modern” future, the trust members said.

   

• According to the blueprint, a dome-less mosque, 200-bed hospital, a community kitchen and a modern library will be set up in the complex. One of the presenters of the project, Prof SM Akhtar of Jamia Millia Islamia, said, “The design of the mosque has been prepared using modern technology, and it will be egg-shaped without any dome. The two-storeyed mosque will not have any minaret.”

  “Solar power will be installed in the mosque, and around 2,000 people will be able to offer ‘namaaz’ at the same time,” he added.

• In an official statement, the IICF stated that the hospital will provide state-of-art facilities, much needed in the surrounding population, with a focus on the needs of the children who are suffering from malnourishment and expectant mothers.