Golden car to roll out in a month

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The golden car being readied at the Annamalaiyar temple in Tiruvannamalai is expected to roll out in a month. The glittering chariot would be part of the third prakaram bearing the deities.

According to temple deputy commissioner Jayaraman, ‘‘The total estimate of the project is Rs 87 lakh.

The wooden core of the car is sponsored by the Me Ka Annasathiram of Tiruvannamalai at a cost of Rs 5.5 lakh and the work has been completed at the ARC workshop, Mayiladuthurai.

Work on giving a copper cover to the car is on. Artisans from the ARC workshop, led by Shanmugam Sthapathy, is engaged in carving and embossing designs on copper plates for the car.

The car would be made of 10 kg of gold apart, from 360 kg of copper and 110 kg of silver. Gold has been purchased from the Indian Overseas Bank.

‘‘We have undertaken various kinds of metal carving work for temples around the globe. We are preparing an inner ceiling for the car in padma vidhanam (lotus ceiling) style while the work on the pillars will resemble stone pillars, chief artisan Shanmugam said”.

“After finishing the copper covering work, gold would be made into very thin sheets and would be stuck on the copper cover,’’ said Shanmugam.

Courtesy : New I n d P r e s s.