The ancient Somnath temple situated on the west coast of Gujarat has gone a step closer to what its management calls reminiscence of its Golden era as one of the 12 Jyortirlinga has installed gold-plated doors to the central part of the temple - Garbha Griha.
Shri Somnath Trust, which is managing the historical temple, said on Monday in a written statement that Garbhagriha, ornaments and walls of the temple have been now got golden covering. The gold plated doors were opened for the public fromMonday early morning, after their installation and Sankalp Vidhi puja held at the temple on Sunday late evening.
The temple trust converted the gates and other utensils in to golden as they received a pledge of 100 kilograms of gold in donation from a Mumbai-based family.
In the second and third phase, the trust seeks to use additional gold to convert Shikhar-Dhvaj dand, Damru-Trishul, rest of the portions of walls, pillars, face of lord Shiva, ornaments etc be golden.
It may be noted that Somnath temple had also become one of the first temples in the country that had announced to put 35 kg in gold Gold Monetisation Scheme launched by Prime Minister Modi.
Among the trustees of the Somnath Temple Trust include former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, who is also the chairman of the trust, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, veteran BJP leader lK Advani, BJP National President Amit Shah, among others.