Copper dome of Golden Temple to be plated with gold

A dome atop the main entrance of the Golden Temple would be gilded with gold and devotees were generously donating ornaments for decorating the holiest religious site for Sikhs, the SGPC said on Tuesday.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, had decided to make the main entry point of the Golden Temple more beautiful with gold plating on its dome, SGPC's Additional Secretary Daljit Singh Bedi said.

"There are four entry gates where copper domes are affixed and the SGPC has chosen the dome of the main entrance gate to give it an attractive look to it," he said.

The SGPC had handed over the task of gold plating to Sikh volunteer Baba Kashmir Singh Bhooriwale, Bedi said.

Bhooriwale had set up his own cabin in the marbled periphery of the Golden Temple where devotees were donating their gold ornaments besides cash for this cause, he said.

Talking about rest of the copper domes of three other entry points, Bedi said, "There is no plan as of now to gild them with gold."

He said the work on the dome of the main entrance was going on a war footing.

"Once the entire work is completed, the SGPC will be in a position to tell how much gold was used for this cause," he said replying to a question.

Bedi said the SGPC had enough gold in its treasury donated by devotees.

He, however, said the SGPC would not use that gold for the gold plating task as the work had been given to the volunteer who would manage the gold and the funds for this cause on his own.

Gold, generally donated by devotees in the form of ornaments for the gold plating was usually 22 carats, which is later purified to 24 carats. The pure gold was then melted and shaped into a bar and the malleable metal was pressed into flat ribbons.