Eminent Architect And Dean Of Architecture In Jamia, SM Akhtar To Design The Ayodhya Mosque

The proposed mosque that will come up in Ayodhya, on the alternative plot given to the Muslim community as part of the Supreme Court order, will be designed by Professor SM Akhtar, Head, Faculty of Architecture, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University in New Delhi.

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Prof Akhtar has been appointed as the consultant architect for the mosque to be built in Ayodhya's Dhannipur village by the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) trust.

¡°Professor Akhtar will design the mosque in Ayodhya, to be constructed by the Sunni Waqf Board on alternative land given by the (Uttar Pradesh) government on SC¡¯s order,¡± Jamia PRO Ahmed Azeem said.

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board had created the IICF, a 15-member trust, for building a mosque and other facilities on the land allotted in Ayodhya by the Uttar Pradesh Government on the Supreme Court's instructions.

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Akhtar will be leading a team of designers and architects, which will conceptualise and design the mosque and other facilities at the site.

In the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid land case, the Supreme Court had, on November 9 last year, directed the Central government to hand over the site at Ayodhya for the construction of a temple and set up a trust for the same.

The apex court had further directed the government to allocate an alternative five acres of land at a prominent location in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque to the Sunni Waqf Board.

In February, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board accepted the five acres of land provided for construction of the mosque in Ayodhya.

Apart from this, the Trust will also construct a charitable hospital, public library and a centre showcasing the heritage of Indo-Islamic civilisation which will also serve as a research and study centre for the same, according to a press release by the Board.

Earlier, on August 5, the construction activities of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya began with the bhoomi pooja which was attended by PM Narendra Modi and other ministers.

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That is because the temple will be built as per the design prepared by architect Sompura a renowned architect who had to prepare the design in 1989.

It was the then VHP chief Ashok Singhal who first took Sompura to Ayodhya and asked him to design a temple. He made a grand design for the Ram Temple which was later approved by saints during the Allahabad Kumbh in the early 1990s.