UP govt to come up with documentary on Ayodhya makeover

AYODHYA: The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh will be coming up with a documentary film on the overall development and makeover of Ayodhya.

Being made on the initiative of local development authority, the documentary will be presented as a case study by the Uttar Pradesh government.

The idea is to showcase the urban transformation and rejuvenation of the city as per the 'Ayodhya Vision 2047' document in a time-bound manner.

"The biggest challenge for various agencies working on the ground was to create greenfield projects in the highly congested temple town of Ayodhya, which is home to thousands of temples, mutts and ashrams," a government spokesperson said.

"The shots and archival footage of the city would be prepared to cover its journey from the time the Supreme Court gave its verdict on Ram Mandir. It will culminate with the Pran Pratishtha ceremony that took place in January," the spokesman said.

The agency working on the project would be responsible for conceptualising, creating and producing content in line with the overall theme.

The documentary would cover various chapters associated with the ancient city, starting with its history, its architecture, cultural and religious importance, before switching over to the infrastructure works being undertaken by various government departments.

The film will include key cultural programmes, events and fairs of the city, along with interviews of the officials, prominent residents, members of the local community and pilgrims.

Divisional Commissioner of Ayodhya, Gaurav Dayal, said: "A sum of about Rs 40,000 crore has been invested in Ayodhya on development works from the time Ram temple verdict was announced. About 350 projects of various scale and size being commissioned by 40 different departments have been executed or are underway to develop Ayodhya as a global tourism destination in the next two decades."

The duration of the film would be at least 30 minutes and would be enriched with graphics, infographics, animation and images to make it appealing.

A budget of Rs 20 lakh has been set aside by the local development authority and a time of three months would be given once the agency is finalised.