It all started in October/November 2022, when a few shortlisted companies were invited to Ayodhya to visit the site of the Ram Mandir and JEF was one of them. “It was an honour even to be shortlisted,” says B.G. Prashanth, founder and CEO of JEF, the company that has ensured lightning protection for the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. It was only after proving their merit by conducting a series of tests in their European laboratory, that JEF got the job.
The job requirement was not just tough but pedantic as well. “To begin with, we had to provide for 200 K Amp protection which was way higher than the normal building requirements,” shares Prashanth. “Also, the essential metals for the components used had to be specific and adhering to the spiritual and scientific prerequisites.”
Spiritual prerequisites? “Yes. It was important that the components did not have any such metals which were banned to be near the Gods as per our Vedic scriptures,” elucidates Prashanth. How did you manage? “We studied the necessary scriptures, spoke to the main architect of the temple, sought the advice of the core committee… and only then manufactured the earthing components that were exclusively used for lightning protection of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.”
After many centuries, a temple in India is being built with just stones. Concrete is used only in the base. The temple has gold shikhar (the peak on the dome of the temple), which is a good conductor of electricity. That was one of the biggest challenges faced by Prashanth and his team as it meant that the temple’s peak itself attracted lightning. “That was just one of the challenges. But quite easily solvable with the technology available. However, the other challenge was incomprehensible… something that we had not faced before or imagined when we started…” says Prashanth. And what was that? “Monkeys!” he exclaims. “The trees around have a lot of monkeys which keep coming down to the temple complex. We had to safeguard our components from being damaged by the monkeys.”
The main temple has around 36 grounding points to protect it from the impact of lightning. “Currently, that’s the count,” says Prashanth. “Ours, still, is a work in progress. The temple complex has many other structures apart from the main temple. Our job is to protect the entire complex from lightning. Therefore, we will be a part of the structural team till the entire complex becomes functional and is fully impermeable to lightning,” Prashanth signs off.
