Ram Temple: Giant prayer bell weighing 2,400 kg made with eight metals to be installed in Ayodhya temple

Ayodhya Ram Temple is set to receive a huge bell weighing 2,400 kg, ahead of the January 22 consecration ceremony. The prayer bell is part of many unique features to be installed inside the Ram Temple.

The prayer bell is made in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district and is an extraordinary creation made of eight metals, or “ashtadhatu”. As per media reports, the creation of bellcosts Rs 25 lakhs ($2.5 million) and will betransported to Ayodhya on a train on Tuesday.

Made by a team of approximately 30 skilled workers, the bell is composed of eight metals- gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, tin, iron, and mercury. This exquisite piece is among the largest bells in the country.

Prayer bellsare a major part of any Hindu temple. All the devotees while entering into the sanctum first ring the bells that are usually hung at the temple’s entrance. It is said that by ringing the bells, the devotee informs the deity of his/her arrival.

Thebell is known as “ghanta” in Hindi and some believed that its sound is auspicious which welcomes divinity and dispels evil.

Ayodhya Ram Temple to install 2,400 kg-weighing prayer bell

Standing six feet tall and five feet wide, the bell is one-of-a-kind in its single-piece construction. When rung, it willmake a resonant sound heard within a two-kilometre radius.

The bell was specially made for the temple by carefully shaping and measuring the components. Its mould is constructed using wooden templates and the clapper was made with metal.

Aditya Mittal, a metal trader, said that his late brother Vikas Mittal, previous chairman of Jalesar Nagar Panchayat, had wished to give this bell to the Ram Temple before his untimely death from a heart attack in 2022.

Aditya and his other brother, Prashant Mittal, decided to fulfil Vikas' dream by donating the bell to the shrine.

The order for the bell was given to the Mittal brothers by the Nirmohi Akhara, a party to the Ayodhya title dispute, immediately after the Supreme Court's verdict in November 2019.

Aditya said, "We believe there is some divine reason that this work came to us. So, we decided to donate it to the temple,” according to a local news outlet.

The Etah district, renowned for its artisans, has around 300 factories in Jalesar contributing to the art of creating temple bells.

(With inputs from agencies)