TWO rare rocks from which the idol of Lord Ram will be carved out and placed in the sanctum sanctorum of Ram Temple will reach here from Nepal on Thursday, a senior functionary of the temple trust has said. “Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s national secretary Rajendra Singh Pankaj started from Mustang district of Nepal on Wednesday with the consignment of two sacred rocks and is expected to arrive in Ayodhya on Thursday,” said Prakash Gupta, office in-charge of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. “These Shaligram rocks, that are 60 million-years-old, will reach Ayodhya from Nepal on two different trucks. One rock weighs 26 tonnes and the other weighs 14 tonnes,” he said.

Idol of Lord Rama in his child form carved from this stone will be placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Temple, which is expected to be ready by Makar Sankranti festival in January next year, officials said.

The two rocks were found in the Gandaki river at a place close to Saligrama or Muktinath (place of salvation) in Nepal’s Mustang district, they said.

Meanwhile, a two-day meeting of the building construction committee of the Ram Temple began in Ayodhya from Saturday. The meet was chaired by construction committee chairman Nripendra Mishra and attended by Trust Secretary Champat Rai and Trustee Anil Mishra. According to the sources, the progress of the temple construction was reviewed and discussions were held on the installation and carving of the new idol of Lord.

Rai told PTI, “Issues related to temple construction were discussed and this meeting will continue on Sunday also.”

The last meeting of the construction committee was held on January 5, and this was the second meeting held in a month.