Surat:
A gold jewelled crown with precious stones adorning the Ram Lalla idol at the new temple in Ayodhya and two silver replicas of the shrine were precious gifts from Gujarat’s Surat that shone at the consecration ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, people familiar with the matter said.
The silver replicas of the majestic temple weighing 3 kgs, which were gifted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to PM Modi and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) head Mohan Bhagwat after the ‘pran pratishtha’ (consecration) ceremony in Ayodhya, were made by a Surat jeweller.
The new Ram Lalla idol was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple in an event led by PM Modi and watched by lakhs of people on television at their homes and in temples across the country. PM Modi took part in the ‘pran pratishtha’ rituals in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Yogi Adityanath and RSS Chief Bhagwat.
Surat-based industrialist Mukesh Patel, who heads Greenlab Diamonds, gifted a Rs 11-crore golden crown for the Lord Ram idol which is embedded with precious stones and weighs six kgs. The silver temple replicas weighing three kgs were built by Surat’s D Khushaldas Jewellers around four months ago when the date of consecration of the idol at the Lord Ram temple was announced, said its owner Deepak Chokshi.
“Surat is famous for gold, silver and diamond, and the two silver temple replicas prepared by D Khushalbhai Jewellers were gifted to PM Modi and Bhagwatji. Four months back, we had met (UP Chief Minister) Yogiji with the temple model, and he suggested that we install Ram Lalla in the temple model and make some other changes,” Mr Chokshi said.
He said it took artisans three-and-a-half months to prepare the two models and the miniature temples have been made from handicraft.
The golden crown for Ram Lalla made with gold and precious stone, and gifted to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra — the Ayodhya temple trust — was made by Surat-based Greenlab Diamonds, national treasurer of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Dinesh Navdia said.
Two employees from the Surat firm were sent to Ayodhya by a plane on January 5 to measure the head of the Ram Lalla idol to prepare the crown accordingly, Mr Navadia said.
The golden crown consists of four-and-a-half kgs of the yellow metal. Small and big size diamonds, rubies, pearls and sapphires, among other precious stones, have been embedded in it, the makers said. Industrialist Patel gifted the Rs 11-crore crown to the temple trust members for it to adorn the idol of Ram Lalla which was consecrated amid rituals at an elaborate ceremony in the Uttar Pradesh town, Mr Navadia said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
