Golden Temple to glitter more with 160 kg more gold
to put gold on four deodis (entrances), symbolising that the doors of the shrine are open for all religions and races, according to Diljit
Singh Bedi, the spokesperson and additional secretary of the apex gurdwara body.
“The domes of the deodis will be covered with gold. Work of gold-plating on the main deodi is underway. A coat of gold will be applied on rest of the deodis once that work finishes,” he said.
The main entrance has one big dome in the middle and four smaller ones on its all corners. These domes are being decorated with gold-plated sheets, or patras.
The gold used to cover the patras has been donated by devotees, according to Baba Kashmir Singh Bhuriwale, head of the kar sewa organisation. “Sri Harmandar Sahib is very sacred place for the Sikhs.
The sangat (devotees) always stays ready to donate everything for it,” Bhuriwale said. A functionary of the kar sewa outfit said it was difficult to estimate the total cost of the project as it was a volunteerbased effort.
HOW PLATING IS DONE
The gold-plated patras are made at the head office of the kar sewa body in Amritsar.
The donated jewellery is purified to 24 karats, Bhuriwale said. It is then shaped into bars, which are pressed into flat ribbons. The strips are cut into pieces and then beaten into ultra-thin foil.
To do the plating, patras of copper are cleaned with sand, tamarind and a mixture of acid and mercury, turning them bright silver. Twenty layers of gold foil are then laid on each patra. It turns bright yellow when heated to remove the mercury, after which four more layers of foil are added. The golden colour comes after polishing.