Chandrakant Sompura, the architect of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, is among the many Padma Shri recipients this yr. He comes from a household of temple architects which have designed over 200 such constructions.
He had informed NDTV in an earlier interview that he had designed the Ram temple over 30 years in the past utilizing his footsteps as a unit of measurement. “At the moment, we weren’t allowed to take measuring tapes. I used to be informed simply take a look round alone. It was very tough for me to examine a temple with out correct measurement. So, I used my toes and counted the steps. I remembered all of the steps – from left to proper, throughout, and replicated the design inside an enormous corridor the place I may take correct measurement,” Mr Somapura had mentioned.
The 80-year-old envisioned the temple in Ayodhya, constructed over an space of two,7 acres within the conventional Nagar type with out utilizing iron.
Mr Sompura is the grandson of Padma Shri Prabhashankarbhai Oghadbhai Somapura, whom he additionally considers his trainer. As per his web site, he was awarded Greatest Architect Of The Yr 1997 award and his creation of Shri Akshar Purshottam Swaminarayan Temple at London was recognised by the Guiness E book of World Data. Additional, he created the Akshardham temple in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, 108 Bhaktivihar, and temples in Singapore and USA, all of which acquired widespread appreciation.