Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

Diamond crown for Srikalahasti temple deity

Tirupati: Srikalahasti temple has decided to take the help of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to get a diamond crown chiselled for Goddess Gnanaprasunambika at a cost of Rs.1.93 crore.

Kola Anand, chairman of the Srikalahasteeswara Swamy Temple, handed over a cheque for Rs.1 crore to his TTD Board counterpart, B. Karunakara Reddy, as advance towards the cost of the diamond-studded tiara.

Anand said that the TTD’s help was sought in view of its past experience in getting similar crowns prepared for the Lord Venkateswara.

It may be recalled that the TTD after a diamond-shopping in Antwerp, Belgium, known for its diamond trade, has procured machine-cut diamonds of different carats and sizes when it got fabricated an exquisite crown for Lord Venkateswara about two decades ago.

It is against this background that the TTD also readily responded to the Srikalahasti temple’s request. As per the ‘understanding’ reached between the two premier shrines, Kalahasti temple would meet the entire cost of the crown -- Rs.1.93 crore -- while the TTD would meet its entire gold and the diamond requirements and get the tiara made within three months so that it could be possibly adorned to the Goddess on the eve of the ensuing Sivarathri.

Mr. Anand said that Rs.1 crore paid to the TTD was mobilised as donations from philanthropists and charitable trusts.

He struck a note of optimism that even the balance of Rs.93 lakhs would be tapped from donors in the next one or two months.

Against the original proposal to peg the overall weight of the crown at 9 kg, it has now been pruned down to six or seven kgs so that it did not turn out to be too heavy for the ‘deity’.

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