Work on a “temple architecture museum”, showcasing the design, history and culture of temples across the world, will begin in Ayodhya next month.
The museum, which is being developed by Tata Sons in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Culture and the UP government, will be built at Manjha Jamtara village in Ayodhya.
This comes after the Uttar Pradesh government finalised the allocation of 35 acres of land to Tata for development of the museum, which officials said would be a first-of-its-kind project. As per the understanding between Tata and the state government, the land will be provided on a lease of Re 1 per annum for 90 years.
Sources said Vinayak Deshpande, who played a significant role in the project to build the new Parliament building, will mentor the temple museum project. Officials said they will start camping in Ayodhya soon.
The aim will be to turn the museum into a state-of-the-art attraction for tourists from across the world, sources said. According to state government officials, the project will also showcase Sanatan culture through temple architecture.
On Wednesday, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrashekaran had visited Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow. Later, he also visited Ayodhya. According to sources, Chandrashekaran was accompanied by people who have been given responsibility for the museum project.
“The project is being developed in close coordination between Tata and the Uttar Pradesh government. It will be a one-of-a-kind project. The work on the project will certainly start on the ground next month,” a source said.
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The project proposal for the Temple Architecture Museum in Ayodhya was cleared by the UP Cabinet last year. According to the proposal, the estimated expenditure of the project will be around `750 crore, which will largely come from Tata’s corporate social responsibility fund.
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