A discarded Shiva Lingam installed, on Ayodhya Rama Pratishta day

The stretch of ground that was raised six feet, on the line the water used to take past both shrines and out along the road. — Where we raised the ground six feet.

Before any of this we raised the ground six feet. The water used to come down that line, past where Rama Lingeshwara and Kamakshi Amma stand now, and straight out along the way in. Raising it was the first thing we did.

The Lingam in the forest

Somebody took a Shiva Lingam from wherever it stood and threw it into the forest. The Nandi went with it. They lay there in the open and nobody came.

From my own archive

The site before Rama Lingeshwara Swamy was built, thick with trees. — Before, when it was all trees.

The same site cleared of trees, with the ground still uneven. — Cleared, and not yet levelled.

The Rama Lingeshwara site during the clearing work.

I watched for months. No pooja, no abhishekam, nothing at all. It melted my heart to see it left like that, and after a while it stopped feeling like something I had happened to notice.

Carrying him up, and waiting

So I carried him up to the flat ground we had made, and then I waited. I did not want to install him on a day I had chosen myself.

March 2023 – January 2024

The patch of ground where Rama Lingeshwara stands now, photographed the day before he was installed. — The spot where he stands now.

The site in March 2023, before the ground was worked.

The same view a moment later, March 2023.

The day, and the ground under him

The day came on the Ayodhya Rama Pratishta. The same day, the same muhurtham. The ground still had rock and gaps in it, so we cleared it, filled it, levelled it and poured red soil over the top first. Then the pooja, and everything offered.

He stood in the open air that day. There was nothing over him. The shed came later in the year.

From my own archive

The site during the clearing and levelling.

Work in progress on the uneven ground, levelling it and widening the space. — Levelling it, and making the place bigger.

The levelled ground, further on in the work.

The same ground before the work and after it, side by side. — Before and after.

How the temple looked before the work, beside how it looks now. — The same place, before and after.

The shrine with no iron shed over it, beside the same shrine with the shed on. — Before the iron shed, and after.

12 films of this work

Work going on at the Rama Lingeshwara Swamy shrine. — Working at the shrine. This one is long, and it is several days cut together.

Sand being shovelled into bags. — Filling the bags.

Sandbags carried from the last checkpoint to the shrine. — From the last checkpoint up to the shrine.

The sand as it was bought, before being bagged. — The sand we bought.

The first checkpoint, 250 metres in, where the bags were dropped before being carried further by hand. — The first checkpoint, 250 metres in. That stretch was the hard part, so the bags stop here and go on by hand.

Sand being packed into bags at the road so it can be carried on the bike. — Bagging it so the bike can take it.

Filmed while carrying the sandbags in. — Filmed on the way in, carrying.

The place the iron pipes were bought, before cutting and welding. — Where we bought the pipes.

The iron pipes being painted before the old shed came down. — Painting the pipes.

Digging the ground out for the iron pipes. — Digging for the pipes.

The iron pipes going in at the shrine. — Putting them in.

The roof going on over the shrine. — The roof going on.