RAJKOT: After Ambaji, the
Somnath temple will also shine golden in the days to come.
The
Somnath Temple Trust
plans to gold plate all the 72 pillars of the historical temple, beginning with 10 in the first phase. On Tuesday, a pre-fabricated structure made of gold and designed by artisans arrived in
Somnath
from the national capital. Nearly 30 kg gold will be used for plating the 10 pillars.
The sanctum sanctorum and two doors of the temple are already gold plated along with the prong and Lord Shiva’s damru on the peak of the temple.
Trustee-secretary of Somnath temple P K Lahiri said, “The work of gold plating has been assigned to artists from New Delhi. They first made the design on copper and then a ready-to-install structure. In the first phase, we have chosen 10 out of the total 72 pillars for gold plating.”
The process of gold plating on these historical pillars is also interesting. General manager of the temple Vijaysinh Chavda said, “First, these artists emboss the carving and exact structure of the pillar on copper with the use of plaster of paris. They prepare a sheet of copper and deposit the layer of gold on its surface. This entire structure is installed on the pillar then.”
The temple trust purchased the yellow metal in Delhi from donations it received. “As the donation for this gold plating keeps coming, we will complete the rest of the pillars,” said Chavda.
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