The work of gold plating the Kedarnath shrine was completed on Wednesday, a day before the portals of the temple are set to close for the winter.
According to the temple committee, 560 goldsheets were used to cover the walls and ceiling of the temple’s sanctum and was funded by the Lakhi family from Maharashtra.
President of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple, Mr. Ajayendra Ajay told The Hindu that 19 artisans completed the task of goldplating the temple in three days. A six-member team from IIT Roorkee’s Central Building Research Institute guided the process.
“The layers of gold were transported to the temple via road through 18 horse mules. The target was to get the gold makeover done before the portals of the temple closes for the winter and we managed to complete it on time,” he added.
The shrine was open for pilgrims from May. In a little over five months of Yatra, 15,55,543 pilgrims have visited the shrine.
Over 43 lakh people have visited the four shrines under the Char Dham in Uttarakhand that includes, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
The Hindu had published how a Mumbai-based businessman has sought permission of replacing the silver plating in Kedarnath temple with gold. The donor had agreed to pay the entire renovation process.
“We haven’t been told the amount of gold gone in making 560 sheets or the amount that the donor had to bear for the same. All I can say its done by the Lakhi family from Maharashtra,” he added.
Renovation of the eighth century Kedarnath temple, which was at the epicentre of the disaster in 2013, is one of the dream projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over ₹200 crore has already been collectively spent by the Uttarakhand and Central Government on the project that has been going-on for a decade now.
