New Delhi, July 16: Renovation work is underway at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikh community. Through 'kar sewa' or voluntary contribution, nearly Rs 50 crores has been set aside to plate the domes of the four main entrances of the temple with gold.

"40 kg of gold is expected to be used on each but that may go up by 10 kg," says Baba Kashmir Singh Bhuriwale, the head of the ‘kar sewa’ organisation.

Earlier, the Golden Temple Authorities had gold-plated the Harmandar Sahib, located in the middle of the sarovar (holy tank), the domes of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, and darshani deodi (entrance to the sanctum sanctorum).

For the purpose of gold-plating, the Sikh organisations use only 'pure gold'. Thus, the 22-karat gold donated to the temple is purified to 24 karats before being used for plating the copper patras.

"Each strip of ribbon is cut into small pieces. These are beaten into ultra-thin gold foil, which is stored in layers of paper. Ninety-five foils are made of the gold, weighing 1.5 gm each,” Balbir Singh, who oversees the work of gold-plating, told HT.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which administers the Golden Temple, said the beautification of the shrine is essential as it is the sanctum sanctorum of the Sikh community and attract lakhs of visitors each day.

The last major renovation was undertaken almost a decade after the Operation Bluestar in 1984. The UK-based Gurdwara Soho Road, Birmingham, UK, was among the top contributories to the beautification undertaken between 1995-1999.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2018 09:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).