VARANASI: A Kashi-based sculptor has crafted a replica of the idol of Ram Lalla consecrated at the Ayodhya temple.

This replicated idol will be enshrined in a Hanuman temple in the Netherlands.

Before its overseas journey, the idol will be brought to Ayodhya for rituals.

The EterBliss Foundation, dedicated to promoting Sanatan Dharma, commissioned this replica idol. Moreover, the Foundation intends to install replicas of Ram Lalla idols in various other European countries.

Rahul Mukherjee, the director of the Foundation, said: “Swami Akhand Samrat Anandji Maharaj, founder of EterBliss, is working on dispelling misconceptions about Sanatan Dharma, which he says is an eternal philosophy, not merely a religion. Swami Maharaj plans to establish Ram temples around the world. We decided to install an idol of Ram Lalla in black stone at Hanuman Temple in Amsterdam.”

Kashi-based sculptor, Kanhaiya Lal Sharma, who collaborated two decades ago with a European artist on a pink stone statue of Princess Diana, was selected to carve the replica.

Sharma said: “The foundation contacted me after the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, expressing their desire for a similar idol. I agreed, and we commenced work on Basant Panchami on February 24.”