Nripendra Mishra, chairman of the construction committee of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, on Sunday said that the temple would be completed by December 31 this year.

“The construction work is in full swing. We decided today to erect a railing on the first floor of the building to prevent children from falling. It was also decided that all the idols to be installed here would be made of white marble. Some orders have already been given,” Mishra, a former bureaucrat, told reporters in Ayodhya on Sunday.

He said besides other temples on the same campus, a shrine of Sheshawatar would also be built there. Lakshman, the younger brother of Lord Ram, is considered an incarnation of Sheshawatar. The temples of the Sapta Rishis (Seven Saints) and Kobeshwar Mahadev will also be there.

The temple was consecrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22 this year even though the Shankaracharyas — the four heads of Sanatan Dharma — had warned that a religious structure shouldn’t be inaugurated before its construction was complete.

The idol of Lord Ram was disapproved by a large number of residents because it was made of black stone. They had alleged that it was carved in south Indian tradition and didn’t resemble the popular image of the God.