A seven-foot tall statue of Kodamb Ram from Karnataka willbe installed at a museum in Ayodhya.
The statue is made of a single rosewood block and will beunveiled by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on June 7 when it willbe put up at the Shodh Sansthan here. The statue has been purchased from theKarnataka Emporium for Rs 35 lakhs.
Director of Shodh Sansthan, Ayodhya, Y.P. Singh, said thatthough the museum has over 2,500 artifacts related to Lord Ram and his life, itdid not have any piece depicting Kodamb Ram.
According to him, the life of Lord Ram is divided into fivestages — Baal Ram, Raja Ram, Dulha Ram, Banvasi Ram and Kodamb Ram.
The stages are worshipped in different regions of thecountry.
In the north, it is the early two stages of his life thatare relevant while in Mithila region of Bihar, Dulha Ram is worshipped where Ramand Sita are seen together and the former is not armed with his bow.
Banvasi Ram statues have Ram and Laxman with Sita inbetween. It is relevant in Madhya Pradesh and other central India regions.
Kodamb Ram, on the other hand, is worshipped in the southand depicts the stage of Ram’s life when Sita was kidnapped. The statues fromthat phase of Ram’s life show Ram alone, without Sita and Laxman.
It may be recalled that in November last year, the YogiAdityanath government had announced a 100 metre tall statue of Lord Ram thatwill be installed on the banks of Saryu River.