Lucknow: Unlike the traditional mosques which have domes and minarets, the proposed Masjid at Ayodhya would look like a hemisphere with a transparent sun-lit roof, says the Indo-Islamic Culture Foundation (IICF) releasing its design in Lucknow on Saturday.
Prof SM Akhtar, chief architect of the project said, “It will have a ground floor and a mezzanine floor where 2,000 people can pray at a time. There will be separate and flexible sections for women.”
As per the plan, the complex would also house a 250-bed multispeciality hospital and Indo-Islamic Research Centre along with a publishing house.
“While the masjid will be completely self-sufficient in energy, the hospital complex will also be so as far as possible”, says Prof Akhtar.
The construction work on the five-acre land allotted to the Sunni Waqf Board by the Supreme Court is likely to commence on January 26 next year subject to the approval of the map by the Ayodhya administration.
While the entire complex will be constructed simultaneously, the IIFC has emphasized that it is interested in getting the multi-specialty hospital going as soon as possible as Dhannipur doesn’t have even basic health facilities.
When asked whether the CM would be invited for the foundation laying ceremony of the project, the IICF spokesperson Athar Hussain says, “In Islam, the foundation laying of a masjid is not meant to be a large affair. But when we have something to show for- like our hospital we will invite everyone to it including the chief minister.”
“Rough calculations say that just one bed in such a hospital costs Rs 50 lakhs. Thus, just the hospital is a Rs 100 crore plus project. It will take at least a year to be constructed and another to be fully equipped, depending on how we raise the funds.”
The masjid is likely to take six months to complete.
The Archives and Museum part of the project will showcase the joint accomplishments and struggles of the Hindu and Muslim communities in India.
