Ayodhya Temple: Why Is Rama Lalla Idol Black?

A long and patient wait for a Ram Temple at Lord Rama's Janmabhoomi has finally come to an end on January 22, with a grand consecration ceremony.

While images of the Ram idol that was installed at the temple were released earlier - both with eyes covered and uncovered, but devotees could see the actual idol only today.

The 51-inch tall Ram idol is made from black stone and depicts the deity as a five-year-old child in a standing posture.

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But, many might wonder: Why is the Ram idol black in color and why is the deity represented as a five-year-old?

Why is the Ram Lalla idol at Ayodhya black in colour?

The idol of Ram lalla, carved by Karnataka's renowned sculptor Arun Yogiraj, is made of black stone.

The black stone used for the idol originates from Karnataka.

The black stone, known as ¡®"Krishna Shila", was extracted from Ramadas's land in Gujjegowdanapura in Jayapura hobli in the Mysuru district.

"A portion of the stone was protruding outward and was impeding agriculture. Hence, we wanted the land to be levelled for cultivation. But as the land was dug up it led to a massive boulder underneath and was removed with cranes," said Ramadas, as quoted by The Hindu.

The quality of the stone was found to be superior, and word was passed through contacts to the temple trust at Ayodhya, who then decided to use it for sculpting the idol.

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This "Krishna Shila" stone was chosen because it does not react to anything like acid. This means that when milk is poured on the idol, the stone will not react or corrode over time.

"Krishna sila is bluish-grey and when you apply coconut and burnt cocoa powder, it turns black. Over the years, it hardens and does not react to anything. There are 5,000-year-old temples where idols have been made using Krishna Shila stones and have till now not reacted to any weather conditions," said the sculptor Yogiraj's wife Vijetha, as quoted by Wion.

Why is the Ram idol at Ayodhya that of a child 'Rama'?

Ayodhya is where Lord Rama was born - thus rightfully the Ram Janmabhoomi.

That is the reason believed to be behind why the child form of Lord Rama, Ram Lalla, has been installed at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.

The idol of Lord Ram would be placed on the ground of the temple while the idols of Lord Ram's brothers, besides Sita and Hanuman, will be placed on the first floor of the grand temple. However, their addition would take another eight months.

Watch the live coverage of the Pran Pratishtha event here:

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