If the temple stands for a vision of a ‘new India’, it should visually demonstrate it, and when it is completed, show it by the way it functions1. The model of the temple is available now. As it is visualised now, the temple is to be built in the Nagara style which is common in North India. It is a North Indian temple, in the best sense of the term. Some of the most impressive temples in the country have been built in the Nagara style and they evoke great admiration. But, by stated intent, the Ayodhya temple is being built for the entire nation. Why can’t some elements of South Indian temple architecture be incorporated in its the design to make the idea real? If Ram is a symbol of the nation, his abode should reflect its diversities. The temple will be richer with some Chola grandeur and Chalukya finesse and possible elements from other regional traditions of temple architecture. 

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It should also be noted that all temples are not strictly regional, when special considerations go into their making or working. In Ayodhya itself, there are many styles. The Vijaya Raghav Mandir, which is a major temple there dedicated to Ram and Sita, follows Ramanuja’s Vishishtadvaita school of Vedanta, and has a South Indian stamp on it. The Kochi Thirumala Devaswom temple has a style different from the usual Dravidian style. The various Ayyappa temples across the country are not built according to local and regional styles but follow a general Kerala pattern of temple architecture. 

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• 1. These will be different for different people, but they will be used as tools to define politics and society in the coming days. There is much rhetoric and assertion of the symbolic value of the temple for the country. This value can be illustrated in a way that has not yet been thought of because the conventional idea of a temple has dominated the thoughts of its proponents and planners.