Ram ‘Museum’ to Come Up in Ayodhya

A museum on Ram will now be coming up in Ayodhya, but will not include the communally disputed site in the city. Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma spoke to the Economic Times and said that a state-of-the-art Ram museum would be developed in Ayodhya in the near future, and will be a part of the proposed ‘Ramayana circuit’ in that region.

Sharma spoke in detail regarding the museum, claiming it will be based on the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Delhi which has a light and sound show, boat rides, and a film on Swaminarayan. The museum will be part of one of the five circuits declared by the government- the Ramayana circuit, which will include Chitrakoot, Mahkoda, Janaki kund, and other places relevant to the life of Ram.

The government has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to send a proposal under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) scheme. Tourism Secretary Lalit Pawar said, “We have requested the state government to develop the proposal under the PRASAD scheme. Cost estimates are open-ended as of now and depend on the outline and scale of the proposal. This is actually an inter-state project as well so we will talk to other states as well,” the paper quoted him as saying.

When questioned regarding the timing of the proposed project- the project will near completion on 2017 when the UP assembly elections take place, the Tourism Minister said that they were not in fact talking about building the Ram temple in Ayodhya, and that tourism can be developed at any time.