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| Sanskrit_transliteration = {{IAST|Bālakarāma}}
| affiliation = Form of [[Vishnu]]/[[Rama]]
| abode = [[Ayodhya (Ramayana)|Ayodhya]]
| weapon = Bow and arrow{{efn|The name of Rama's bow is {{IAST|Kodanḍa}} and his arrow is the {{IAST|Rāmabāṇa}} that is supposed to be infallible upon release.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Flipside of Hindu Symbolism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ewRfp4qpvt4C|year=2007|publisher=Fultus Corporation|author=M.K.V. Narayan|isbn=978-1-59682-117-0|page=35}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ramabana, Rāmabāṇa: 7 definitions|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/ramabana|access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Wisdom Library|date=12 May 2018 }}</ref>}}
| other_names = Rāma Lallā Virājamāna
}}
'''Balak Ram'''<ref name=NewNameofDeity>{{cite news |editor=HT Newsdesk |date=23 January 2024|title=Ayodhya mandir's new Ram Lalla idol will now be called by this name|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ayodhyas-new-ram-lalla-idol-will-now-be-called-balak-ram-101706003525225.html|work= Hindustan Times|access-date=25 January 2024}}</ref> ({{Lang-sa|बालकराम|lit=child Rama}}, {{IAST3|Bālakarāma}}), also known as '''Ram Lalla''', is the primary ''[[murti]]'' (idol) of the [[Ram Mandir]], a prominent [[Hindu]] temple located at [[Ram Janmabhoomi]], the presumed birthplace of the [[Hindu deity]] [[Rama]] in [[Ayodhya (Ramayana)|Ayodhya]], [[India]].<ref name=ThirdlargestTempleReference>{{cite news |last=Wattas|first=Rajnish |date=23 January 2024|title=Ram Mandir and Hindu temple architecture|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/ram-mandir-and-hindu-temple-architecture-583811|work= Tribune India|access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What Happens To Old Ram Idol Which "Appeared" Inside Babri Masjid In 1949 |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ayodhya-ram-temple-ram-lalla-idol-explainer-in-a-makeshift-tent-since-1949-what-happens-to-old-ram-lalla-idol-now-4915720 |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=NDTV.com}}</ref> ''Balak Rama'' is housed in the sacred ''sanctum sanctorum'' ({{IAST|garbha
Rama is one of the principal [[Hindu deities|deities of Hinduism]] and is traditionally considered by Hindus as the seventh [[avatar]], or incarnation, of [[Vishnu]]. Before the Ram Mandir's inauguration, the deity was referred to by the previous name of '''{{transliteration|hi|ISO|Rām Lallā Virājamān}}''', whose idol was first placed in the complex in 1949. The [[Ram Mandir]] location and the building of the mandir is [[Ayodhya dispute|controversial]] due to the demolition of a mosque formerly located at the place, and is an important subject of political debate in India.<ref name="Controversial"/>
''Balak Ram'' idol represents a five-year-old form of Lord Ram
==Historical background ==
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According to the ''[[Ramayana]]'', Rama was born in [[Ayodhya (Ramayana)|Ayodhya]].<ref>{{cite book | translator-last1= Shastri | translator-first1= Hari Prasad | date = 1952 | title = The Ramayana of Valmiki | url = http://archive.org/details/TheRamayan | location = London | publisher = Shanti Sadan | page = 42}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-10 |title=Hindus' faith in Lord Ram's birthplace based on 'Valmiki Ramayana', 'Skanda Purana': SC|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/hindus-faith-in-lord-ram-s-birthplace-based-on-valmiki-ramayana-skanda-purana-sc-119111000393_1.html |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Business Standard}}</ref> The ''[[Babri Masjid|Masjid-i-Janmasthan]]'' (mosque of birthplace) was built by [[Babur]] at the site, allegedly destroying a Hindu temple commemorating Ram's birthplace.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5SlnZilfMMC|title= The Ethics of Terrorism|publisher= Charles C. Thomas|year=2009|language=English|isbn=978-0-398-07867-6|editor-last1=Gilly|editor-first1=Thomas Albert |editor-last2=Sergevnin|editor-first2=Vladimir|page=25}}</ref> Historical accounts by some European travellers who visited Ayodhya during the [[early modern period]] report that the Hindus believed the mosque and its immediate surroundings to be the exact birthplace of Rama.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jain |first=Meenakshi |author-link=Meenakshi Jain |title=Rama and Ayodhya |publisher=Aryan Books |location=New Delhi |year=2013 |isbn=978-81-7305-451-8|pages=120–121}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Kishore |last=Kunal |title=Ayodhya Revisited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKKaDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA335 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |page=xv|year=2016 |isbn=978-81-8430-357-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEOFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |title=Destruction and Conservation of Cultural Property |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-134-60498-2 | last1 = Layton| first1= Robert | last2 = Julian| first2 = Thomas|page=8 }}</ref>
In 1949, the idols of "Ram Lalla" were placed in the disputed mosque, with some locals claiming that they had miraculously appeared there.<ref name="Godbole 1996">{{cite book | last=Godbole | first=M. | title=Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant | publisher=Orient Longman | year=1996 | isbn=978-81-250-0883-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ItQF4g08KbwC&pg=PA332 | access-date=2024-01-04 | pages=332–333 | archive-date=4 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104142502/https://books.google.com/books?id=ItQF4g08KbwC&pg=PA332 | url-status=live }}</ref> Subsequently, in 1950, the state administration took control of the structure and allowed Hindus to perform worship at the site.<ref name="Chatterji">{{cite book | last=Chatterji | first=Roma | title=Wording the World: Veena Das and Scenes of Inheritance | publisher=Fordham University Press | series=Forms of Living | year=2014 | isbn=978-0-8232-6187-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJOUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT408 | page=408 | access-date=22 January 2024 | archive-date=4 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104110659/https://books.google.com/books?id=CJOUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT408 | url-status=live }}</ref> Further, in the 1980s, [[Hindutva|Hindu nationalist]] groups and political parties launched a campaign to construct the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir ("Rama birthplace temple") at the site.
As the dispute continued in courts, a survey was conducted by [[Archaeological Survey of India|ASI]] in 2003 on the 2.77-acre disputed land as ordered by the Allahabad High Court. According to BR Mani, who led this survey, there was evidence that a temple of ''Nagara style'' of North India existed at the place before the construction of the mosque.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Was a temple razed in Ayodhya? What the stones say |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/ram-mandir-temple-janmabhoomi-babri-masjid-asi-excavations-babur-ayodhya-archaeological-evidence-history-2494442-2024-01-30 |work=India Today}}</ref> In 2019, the contentious [[Ayodhya dispute]] was settled by the [[Supreme Court of India]], which gave the disputed site to Hindus for a temple, and
==Naming==
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==Attributes of the ''murti'' (idol) ==
The ''Balak Ram'' ''[[murti]]'' ({{literal translation|idol}}) represents Rama in the form of a small child. Three Indian sculptors, namely, Ganesh Bhatt, Satyanarayan Pandey, and [[Arun Yogiraj]], were assigned the task of making the idol of the deity by the trust.<ref name= ThreeScultptorsReference>{{cite news |editor=Express News Service |date=23 January 2024|title=Ayodhya mandir's new Ram Lalla idol will now be called by this name|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2023/Dec/09/three-sculptors-at-work-to-create-ram-lala-idol-for-consecration-2640065.html|work= New Indian Express|access-date=25 January 2024}}</ref> As per the trust, the characteristics of the deity were supposed to be a 5-year-old '''{{IAST|Bālaka}}''' (
vicakarṣa dhanuḥ śreṣṭhaṁ vālimuddiśya lakṣyavat (Mahabharata 3.264.35)<ref name="Ramopakhyana">{{Cite book |title=Ramopakhyana - The Story of Rama in the Mahabharata|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfoJBAAAQBAJ|year=1998|publisher=Taylor & Francis|author=Peter Scharf|isbn=0-7007-1390-5|page=370}}</ref>}} However, in sharp contrast to other idols sculpted in South India, the Balak Ram idol doesn't have any carved weapons. Instead, a golden bow and arrow were fitted to their deity. The bow has been crafted carefully by artisans in Chennai as per the description of Rama's bow {{IAST|kodaṇḍa}} in the Ramayana.<ref>{{cite news |editor=PTI|date=12 January 2024|title=Lord Ram to be presented with 2.5 kg bow ahead of consecration ceremony in Ayodhya|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/lord-ram-to-be-presented-with-25-kg-bow-ahead-of-consecration-ceremony-in-ayodhya/article67733857.ece|work= The Hindu|access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref>
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Every day, the deity is venerated with an {{IAST|aṣtayāma seva}} (A service for every {{transliteration|sa|ISO|yāmaḥ}}; three hours).{{efn|{{transliteration|hi|ISO|Yām}} is a unit of time used in India until the modern era. It is equal to 3 hours.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yam, Yaṃ, Yām: 15 definitions|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/yam|access-date=2024-01-28 |website=Wisdom Library|date=23 September 2008 }}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite book | editor= Amaresh Datta | date = 1988 | title =Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC| publisher = Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788126011940 | page = 1582}}</ref> To offer {{IAST|Raṅgabhoga}} services, the temple has five [[mandapa|halls]], namely {{IAST|Raṅgamaṇḍapa}}, {{IAST|Sabhāmaṇḍapa}} ({{translation|Court hall}}), {{IAST|Nṛtyamaṇḍapa}} ({{translation|Hall of dance}}), {{IAST|Prārthanāmaṇḍapa}} ({{translation|Hall of [[Prayer in Hinduism|prayer]]}}), and {{IAST|Kīrtanāmaṇḍapa}} ({{translation|[[Kirtan]] hall}}).<ref name=Hallsreference>{{cite news |editor=ANI |date=4 January 2024|title=Built in traditional Nagara style Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir will be 161 feet tall with five Mandapas says Temple Trust|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/built-in-traditional-nagara-style-shri-ram-janmabhoomi-mandir-will-be-161-feet-tall-with-five-mandapas-says-temple-trust-101704348436796.html|work= [[Hindustan Times]]|access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref>
* '''''Surya Tilak''''' ([[Sanskrit]] : सूर्य: तिलक) is an annual service to the deity on the occasion of [[Rama Navami|Ram Navami]] (
==Dressing==
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Ram Mandir was built in the Maru-Gurjara school (also known as Solanki), which is a sub-style of [[Nagara style|Nagara]] architecture of Indian temples that exist in Northern, Eastern, and Western India.<ref name=ThirdlargestTempleReference/> It is still under construction and will be the third largest upon completion.<ref>{{cite news |last=Namita|first=Namita|date=5 August 2020|title=280-feet wide, 300-feet long and 161-feet tall: Ayodhya Ram temple complex to be world's third-largest Hindu shrine|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/Jul/21/280-feet-wide-300-feet-long-and-161-feet-tall-ayodhya-ram-temple-complex-to-be-worlds-third-largest--2172847.html|work=[[New Indian Express]]|access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref> The [[Angkor Wat]] in [[Cambodia]] and BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham in [[New Jersey]] are the largest Hindu temples in the world. As per the modified design, it shall have three floors with five domes, and the whole complex spans around {{Convert|120|acre}}. The [[Shikhara|{{IAST|Śikhara}}]] (trans. main dome) shall be {{Convert|161|ft}} high.<ref name=Hallsreference/> The architect of the Ram Mandir is Chandrakant Sompura, whose father was Prabhakar Sompura, the [[Somnath temple]]'s architect.<ref>{{cite news |last=Abraham|first=Bobins|date=5 August 2020|title=Meet Chandrakant Sompura, The Architect Who Has Designed Ram Temple In Ayodhya|url=https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/meet-chandrakant-sompura-the-architect-who-has-designed-ram-temple-in-ayodhya-500157.html|work=India Times|access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref>
Following the traditional [[Hindu temple architecture|Nagara style]] temple
==See also==
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