08-22-2007, 01:02 AM
Pioneer, 22 August, 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Rs 600 cr gold temple to be consecrated in TN
K Venkataramanan | Chennai
A temple made of more than a tonne of gold, said to be grander than the Golden Temple in Amritsar, will be consecrated in the northern Tamil Nadu town of Vellore on Friday, a spiritual organisation that has built the temple said here on Tuesday.
The temple called 'Sripuram' and dedicated to Goddess Mahalakshmi, but open to devotees belonging to all religions, has been built by the Sri Om Sakthi Narayani Peetam at a cost of Rs 600 crore, the spiritual organisation's office-bearers said.
The temple, spread over 55,000 square feet, is located on a sprawling plot of 100 acres at Malaikodi near Vellore, about 150 km from here, by the organisation run by a 31-year-old religious leader who calls himself 'Sri Narayani Amma'.
Except for a walkway that runs through the complex, the entire structure is made of gold and copper, and contains many intricate carvings and sculptures in gold.
It took six years for about 400 goldsmiths and copper craftsmen from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam to complete the structure, according to P Murali, trustee of the Peetam.
The temple structure was first covered with a copper coating, and then draped in nine layers of gold beaten into foils.
The main deity, Mahalakshmi, stands in granite stone, but the idol has been plated with pure gold.
The star-shaped pathway leading to the temple has messages of 'Amma', who has conceived and designed the place of worship, and quotations from the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible and the Koran displayed on both sides.
"The temple is Amma's gift to mankind," an official of the Peetam said. Devotees say it is will be recognised as one of the 'wonders of the world'.
Officials say the gold had been procured in the form of bars through the Reserve Bank of India in a transparent manner, probably using funds raised from philanthropists and devotees.
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