As the Ram Temple in Ayodhya readies for “pran prathishthan” or consecration on 22 January, Jist News visited the quarries from where the pink sandstone for the temple was sourced. The pink sandstone measuring almost 5 lakh cubic feet has come from Bansi Paharpur in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district. The rather rare pink stone is found sandwiched between layers of abundantly found red sand stone. The lease for the mines was cleared by the Ashok Gehlot government in 2022. In the recently concluded Rajasthan assembly election Bharatpur region didn’t witness much ground swell over ram temple. But legalising of earlier illegal mines impacted the poll outcome in at least two assembly seats.
