Four months after the Mahabodhi Mahavihara temple in Bodh Gaya was rocked by serial blasts, the most sacred place of Buddhist pilgrimage is all set for an auric mould. Around 300 kg of gold, sent specially from Thailand, will be installed around the spire of the temple.
The Customs and Central Excise departments had cleared the formalities, following which the gold, weighing 289 kg and packed in 13 boxes, was brought to Bodh Gaya from Thailand by Thai Airways flight TG-327.
Gaya District Magistrate Balamurugan D, also the ex-officio chairman of the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee, and Senior Superintendent of Police Nishant Tiwary supervised the transport of the gold, worth around Rs 100 crore, from the airport to the Mahabodhi temple.
Since the Mahabodhi temple is a World Heritage Site, as declared by the Unesco on June 27, 2002, the clearance for gold-plating has been taken from the Union Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India.
A 40-member team, including 24 security personnel, has been flown in from Thailand to keep a hawkish eye on the yellow metal. Besides, select artistes have also come from the country to carry out gold-plating around the spire of the nearly 180-foot high tower of the Mahabodhi shrine.
The temple has special significance in Buddhism, as this is the holy place where 2,550 years ago a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became Lord Buddha, the founder of the non-violent religion.
Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee secretary Nangzey Dorjee said the gold donated by Thailand was brought there in the form of thin sheets. “The sheets will be wrapped on the spire. It will, however, not alter the original shape of the shrine,” he said.
“The project may take a month to be completed. But before the work commences, a special prayer meet will be held under the sacred Bodhi tree on November 16, in which around 500 devotees will participate,” he said.