"2.5 Billion Years Old High-Quality Granite": All About Rock Used For Ramlalla's Statue At Janmabhoomi Temple In Ayodhya

The stone used for Ramlalla's idol at Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya is 2.5 billion years old, as per Dr HS Venkatesh, Director of the National Institute of Rock Mechanics (NIRM) in Bengaluru.

The 51-inch idol is made of special black granite brought from Karnataka and carved out by known sculptor Arun Yogiraj. The pran-pratishtha of the idol happened yesterday (22 January) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the mukhya yajman.

NDTV quotes Dr Venkatesh as saying, "The rock is highly durable and resistant to climatic variation and will sustain thousands of years in this subtropical zone with minimum maintenance."

The stone was chosen from Mysuru district's Jayapura Hobli village which comes in a region known for high-quality granite mines. It was then tested by NIRM, which is a nodal agency to test rocks for Indian dams and nuclear power plants.

The granite block was tested in laboratories at Kolar Gold Fields and was found to be "massive, melanocratic and uniform in colour,  devoid of any internal cracks and fractures". The stone is fine-grained, hard and compact.

It was found to have high compressive strength, tensile strength, bending strength, breaking strength and elasticity. "In addition the rock possess high density, low porosity and water absorption," Venkatesh says.

As the earth is estimated to have originated some 4.5 billion years ago and the age of the black granite rock is 2.5 billion years, this means that the statue's rock has seen more than half of the earth's history.

Also read: Ayodhya Ram Temple: Ramlalla's New Murti To Be Known As 'Balak Ram'