Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday visited the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi site and and also inspected a probable location near Saryu river for a planned statue of Lord Ram.
Faizabad BJP president Awadhesh Pandey told PTI thatAdityanath first visited Hanuman Garhi, and then the Ram Janmabhoomi.
After offering prayers at the disputed site, Adityanath announced that a "grand statue" of Lord Ram would be built in Ayodhya and that his government has shortlisted some possible sites for it, reported The Indian Express.
"Yogiji also inspected a site near Saryu river for a planned statue of Lord Ram there. He later went to Gorakhpur where he met children of a tribal village and attended a programme there," Pandey said.
He added that one of the probable sites is a patch of land between the Ram Ghat Halt and railway bridge on Saryu, which Yogi inspected.
"People come to Ayodhya for darshan (viewing) and smaran (remembering) of Lord Ram, and the statue will fulfil that purpose," Adityanath was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Regarding the Ram temple in Ayodhya, The Indian Express report quoted Adityanath as saying, "We all know that all Ayodhya has is this temple. People come here to worship Lord Ram and no one else."
"You all know there is already a temple in Ayodhya. Mandir tha, hai aur rahega (the temple was there, is there and will continue to be there). All options are open, but the solution will conform to law and Constitution," he was quoted as saying by CNN-News18.
This comes after the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday announced that Faizabad district would henceforth be known as Ayodhya.
"Ayodhya is a symbol of our 'aan, baan aur shaan' (honour, pride and prestige)," Adityanath had said, while also announcing the setting up of a new airport in Ayodhya named after Lord Ram and a medical college in the name of king Dashrath, father of Lord Ram, in the district.