This design is special, says architect of Ram temple

AHMEDABAD: The architect who designed the Ram temple to be built in Ayodhya said on Wednesday that the design was “among the best that I have made. All the temples that I have designed so far are good, but this one is special”.
Chandrakant Sompura, the Ahmedabad-based architect whose design has been adopted by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra for construction of the temple, did not visit Ayodhya because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.But his son, Ashish Sompura, was present for the “shilanyas” on Wednesday.
“People affectionately remember my grandfather Ramji Sompura as the architect of the Somnath temple. For years to come people will associate my name with the magnificent Ram temple at Ayodhya. It is a moment of pride for me personally that construction of the temple which I designed has begun,” Sompura (77) said. He added that a Ram temple at Ayodhya had been the desire of crores of people and, personally, he was overjoyed that its construction had begun. “The temple should be ready in about three-and-a-half years,” the architect said.
“Nobody was allowed there at that time (1989) and there was strict security. I had measured the dimensions with my feet before designing the temple,” Sompura said. He added that the temple will now be almost double the size of what he had proposed.
Chandrakant Sompura belongs to a celebrated temple architect family that has been designing temples for 18 generations. The father-son duo of Chandrakant and Ashish have so far designed 131 temples across the country and abroad. The famous Somnath and Ambaji temples have been designed by Chandrakant Sompura’s father, Prabhashankar Sompura, while Chandrakant Sompura’s grandfather, Ramjibhai Sompura, has designed the temples of Palitana, in Gujarat. One of the gates of a Palitana temple is called Ramji Gate.