Who Is Chandrakant Sompura, Ayodhya Temple Architect Among Padma Awardees

Chandrakant Sompura, the architect of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, is among the Padma Shri recipients this year. He comes from a family of temple architects that have designed over 200 such structures.

He had told NDTV in an earlier interview that he had designed the Ram temple over 30 years ago using his footsteps as a unit of measurement. "At that time, we were not allowed to take measuring tapes. I was told just have a look around alone. It was very difficult for me to envision a temple without proper measurement. So, I used my feet and counted the steps. I remembered all the steps - from left to right, across, and replicated the design inside a big hall where I could take proper measurement," Mr Somapura had said.

The 80-year-old envisioned the temple in Ayodhya, constructed over an area of 2,7 acres in the traditional Nagar style without using iron.

Mr Sompura is the grandson of Padma Shri Prabhashankarbhai Oghadbhai Somapura, whom he also considers his teacher. As per his website, he was awarded Best Architect Of The Year 1997 award and his creation of Shri Akshar Purshottam Swaminarayan Temple at London was recognised by the Guiness Book of World Records. Further, he created the Akshardham temple in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, 108 Bhaktivihar, and temples in Singapore and USA, all of which received widespread appreciation.