Building 11,000 square feet grain statue of Ram Sita begins in Janakpur

By Laxmi Chaudhary,Janakpurdham, Dec. 11: Janakpurdham Sub-metroplitan City has started building an 11,000-square-foot statue of Sita and Ram for the upcoming Sita Ram Vivah Panchami festival.

The statue is being built using 102 quintals of food grains on the premises of the Rangabhoomi field within 12 bigha landscape.

Every year, the historic religious city of Janakpurdham celebrates Vivah Panchami. 

The city is building the statue using 11 types of different food grains at a cost of Rs. 2.1 million to set a 

new world record.  The work of filling the idol with grains will begin on Monday morning.

Satish Gurjar, an artist who came from India to create the statue, said that the first phase of work for the construction of the statue, which was the block-making process, was completed on Sunday. 

“After this, we will begin the work of filling and shaping the grain from Monday morning,” he said.

According to Gurjar, 25 quintals of rice, six quintals of wheat, six quintals of soybeans and 18 quintals of chickpeas among many other grains are being used for the construction of the giant statue.

“In total, 11 types of grains worth Rs. 1.2 million are being used to construct the statue,” said Gurjar.

Committee coordinator Jitendra Mahaseth informed that the statue was being built with inspiration from the 9,000-square-foot statue of Ram Janaki built in Ayodhya, India.

Manoj Kumar Sah, Mayor of Janakpurdham Sub-metropolitan City, said that the big statue was being built to attract tourists to Janakpurdham and make it known worldwide.

“The wedding anniversary of Sita and Ram is the best time to build the statue. A new record is expected to be set after the construction of the 11,000-square-foot statue. In addition, 90 per cent of the grain will be reused, and 10 per cent will be used to feed livestock,” said Sah. 

Mayor Sah, who is also in the Advisory Committee of the Construction Committee,  informed that the statue was being built in the north-east corner of the historic Rangabhumi field. “The statue will be made by filling six inches of soil over a carpet on a flat surface,” Sah added.

The committee informed that the same team that made the statue of Ram Janaki  in Ayodhya, India, and set a world record is constructing the statue in Janakpurdham. The team was called from India to build a bigger statue and include it in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Assistant of Janaki Temple, Mahant Ramroshan Das, Chairman of Janakpur Physician Association and Private Hospital Owners Association of Dhanusha, Dr. SK Singh and other concerned organisations have pledged to take the responsibility for grain collection required to prepare the statue. According to the Artefact Making Committee, the artists are not going to take money and are going to make the statue for free.