Annu Bhai Sompura (left) supervising the work at Karsevakpuram. A Telegraph picture

The proposed temple will have three types of pillars. One set of 72 for the ground floor will be 16.5-foot high, while another set of 72 for the first floor will be 14.5-foot high. The third set of 68 pillars, with heights ranging from 3.63 ft to 12.9 ft, will be used on both floors.

Nagendra Upadhyay, VHP activist and district leader, admits there is no sense of urgency and it will take at least five more years for the work to be completed. “But things could change if the VHP’s Margdarshak Mandal wants,” he hastens to add.

While questions like when the temple construction will start and who will undertake it remain unanswered, frantic building activity is going on elsewhere. Already dotted with innumerable temples and ashrams, many more are sprouting at rapid pace.

“Acres and acres of land have been purchased by every important math anywhere in the country, be it north or south,” says Mahant Vidyasagar, head priest of Lakshman Quila temple.

Not only are new temples being constructed, the old ones are also getting a fresh look. Apart from Luv Kush Mandir and Dasrath Mahal, believed to have been the residence of Ram’s father, Konark Bhavan, Raj Gaddi and Char Dham have got a facelift.

But construction of the proposed Ram temple has evoked little interest among Ayodhya’s mahants, some of whom even question the claim that Ram was born at the site of the demolished mosque.

Mahant Gyan Das of Hanumangarhi insists Ram was not born there. Others claim he was born at Ram Janamsthan Mandir, one of the thousands of neglected temples here.