An eight-inch Ram Lalla statue made of “asthadhatu” and hailing from Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham is ready, as trust members prepare to go ahead with the Bhumi Pujan for a Ram Mandir replica on January 22 in Murshidabad.

However, the organiser, Bongiyo Ram Sevak Parishad Charitable Trust, says that the statue which will be finally placed in the temple will be “different, bigger” and much more attuned to Bengali traditions.

Recently, while TMC MLA Humayun Kabir announced the building of a Babri Masjid replica in Murshidabad, Hindu outfits announced a Ram Mandir replica to be built in the same district.

“We have got a Ram Lalla from Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham (a religious site in Tamil Nadu). We will go ahead with the Ram Temple (replica) Bhumi Pujan on January 22,” said Ambikananda Maharaj, president of the trust.

“The idol is about eight inches tall, made of ashtadhatu, and reflects ‘balya roop’ (childhood),” said Maharaj.

“However, the idol placed in the temple, once finished, will be different. There will be three layers in the temple. On the topmost layer will be the idol of Ram worshiping Maa Durga signifying Akal Bodhon (worship of Durga in the month of Ashvin). There will be another idol of Sri Ram, with Sita Devi, Lakshman, and Hanuman among others at the second layer.”

“Though the structure will be exactly like the one in Ayodhya, the idols will reflect Bengal’s culture. Bengali icons and luminaries will be represented on the walls of the temple. We will invite all political party leaders and even the Chief Minister for the Bhumi Pujan,” he said.

The trust claimed to have identified and be in the process of finalising around 28 to 30 bighas of land in Murshidabad that was donated to them.

Meanwhile, TMC MLA Humayun Kabir has earlier told The Indian Express that the trust for the construction of a mosque would be floated in February and the foundation stone would be laid on December 6 — the day in 1992 when Hindu kar sevaks razed the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.