Fixing of gold coated copper plates on the four walls of the famous Ayyappa Swami temple at Subashnagar here is going on at a brisk pace with a group of 15 artisans from Pembarti village of Warangal district working round the clock.
The temple trust headed by former MLA, D. Satish Pawar gave this contract to Munaganti Punnamachari who is dexterous in such work and achieved experience having completed gold coating projects at several temples earlier.
“We have started the mission on July 10 and will finish in two months. We are using 400 kg of copper and 1.5 kg gold for the purpose. First, we fix copper plates and give gold coating on it later. The entire project costs not less than Rs.18 lakh. After the coating work the temple will get a splendid look,” says Punnamachari.
He said that his entire team of workers had been to the Ayyappa Swami temple at Sabarimala in Kerala to observe the work done there. “We have thoroughly observed the temple structure and gold coating there and are trying to replicate it here”, he added.
Constructed on a sprawling 1.5 acre land in the middle of the city the temple is supposed to be the biggest in the entire Telangana. Since it is centrally located a number of devotees keep visiting it daily and on Wednesdays it overflows with devotees.
G. Srinivas, owner of a pooja material shop on the precincts said that the temple became famous in the recent period as at least 2,000 Ayyappa devotees wear mala here during deeksha period. The temple is well-maintained and the trust is taking care of every measure to protect its sanctity, he said.
