Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday said late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa had favoured construction of a temple for Lord Ram in Ayodhya and extended his best wishes for the foundation stone laying ceremony that is to take place on August 5.

In his statement, Chief Minister Palaniswami recalled that Jayalalithaa had urged for the construction of a temple for Lord Ram in Ayodhya while participating in a National Integration Council meeting on November 23, 1992.

“At the same time, the former Chief Minister also desired that a mosque too must be there in Ayodhya. Her stand showed that she wanted harmony among Hindus and Muslims for the nation's integrity and its larger good,” the Chief Minister said in an official release.

In the statement, the present Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also added that the temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya is the dream of Hindus and this is turning into a reality. Chief Minister Palaniswami said that as per the historical judgement of the Supreme Court, a conducive atmosphere exists for building the Ram temple and extended his heartfelt appreciation for the central government on that count.

Also extending his best wishes on behalf of Tamil Nadu people to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will take part in the foundation stone laying ceremony and the 'bhoomi pujan' on Wednesday, Palaniswami lauded the Centre for taking steps to build the temple after the Supreme Court's last year verdict on the issue that led to a conducive atmosphere.

On Tuesday, just a day ahead of the ceremony, pictures of the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya were released by the government. The architect of the temple had said earlier that the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya will be almost double the size of what was originally planned following a modification in its design after the Supreme Court verdict in 2019.

(With inputs from IANS and PTI)