New mosque project in Ayodhya set for April 2026 rollout

Thirty-three years after the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, in India's Uttar Pradesh, was razed by a mob on this day in 1992, paving the way for the grand Ram temple at the site, the tentative timeline for the new mosque project roll-out at Dhanapur, a village some 25 km from the city, could be around April 2026, head of the trust tasked with the project said.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

The design of the proposed mosque

"If all fits in place, and of course, subject to the Ayodhya Development Authority's (ADA) approval of the revised layout plan of the mosque that we hope to submit by December-end, a tentative timeline of the mosque project rollout could be around April 2026," Zufar Faruqi, Chairman of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), the trust tasked with the construction of the mosque-complex project, told PTI.

However, despite the cacophony of claims and counterclaims surrounding the much-awaited project, uncertainties still shroud the original mosque plan, more than five years after the Ayodhya district administration, acting on Supreme Court orders, formally allocated five acres of land for it.

Faruqi said the first mosque layout plan was rejected by the ADA, but even before that, the IICF had decided to drop it following objections from the community over its futuristic, modern design and settle for a more conservative, traditional one - one that is near ready.

The ADA's approval is obviously the key first step towards the start of the much-delayed mosque construction, but the IICF is staring at other pressing issues, including the lack of "enough land" at and around the Dhannipur site.