Ayodhya mosque will be a modern structure with no past baggage

LUCKNOW: The proposed masjid at Ayodhya's

Dhannipur

will be a

modern structure

and it will be energy efficient. The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) Trust released the artist's impression of the project spread over five acre land given to the trust as per the order of the Supreme Court.


"We will not take any symbolism or design element from the past or from the medieval times. The mosque's design is contemporary and it will be an energy efficient one. Subject to formal clearance of the plan, the project when put in full swing, will take only two years to completion," announced

IICF Trust

in Lucknow at a press conference on Saturday.

As IICF tries to come out of the shadows of the demolished Babri Masjid, it now hopes to call not just people for prayer but also calls out towards a "syncretic and modern" future, the trust members said.

While the project's chief architect Prof SM Akhtar and its cultural curator

Prof Pushpesh Pant

joined in over the web. They clarified that there would be no grand foundation laying ceremony for the project since there is no such tradition in Islam.

"There is no particular design standard which is to be followed for a mosque in Islam. The arches and domes were an element of medieval architecture which stuck on. But architecture is ever evolving. Mosques now such as those in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Germany, Turkey, Pakistan and others have contemporary architecture. We are not creating a precedent," said Prof SM Akhar, founder dean of the faculty of architecture and ekistics at Jamia Millia Islamia, who joined the press conference online.

As per the design, the mosque will come up at an area of over 1700 square meters, will be double storeyed with two contemporary designed minarets at its front and a skylit glass dome. It would accommodate around 550 people.

"Syncretic culture will be represented in all of the elements and amenities. We have to move over the past towards a collective future," added former faculty of international relations at JNU, Prof Pushpesh Pant.

"Zero energy is the main element of the mosque. It will be solar powered and have a vibrant green patch with a variety of trees from across the globe. There are examples of such mosques the closest being the Badriya Juma Masjid in Karnataka which is the world's first eco-friendly green mosque," added president of the IICF and chief of the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, Zufar Faruqi.

While the trust has not come with a name of the mosque yet, it is amply clear of the fact that "it would not be named after any king or emperor" clarifying that the name Babri Masjid is out of the cards.

"There is a lot of work which remains before we can start work on the site. Soil testing is to be done, a blueprint accepted by the relevant authorities and only then can we begin. We want work to start from January 26 when the Indian Constitution came into effect. However, if not possible, we are sure that by August 15--Independence day--we will be all set to start," said trust spokesperson Athar Husain.

Apart from the mosque, a much larger 200-bed super speciality hospital, a museum and archival centre, a library and community kitchen are also to come up on the allotted land.

"A hospital is the most important requirement of the area. Through our survey it was found that the women and children of the nearby areas are severely malnutritioned and in the absence of a hospital in the vicinity, patients are forced to rush to Lucknow, Gorakhpur or other cities," said Husain.

"We are gathering funds for the project currently and there are some donors for the hospital. Rough estimates tell that in a 200-bed super specialty hospital, Rs 50 lakhs per bed are required. The first phase will include the mosque and hospital and second phase will include hospital expansion," added Husain.


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