New Delhi: Days ahead of Ram Navami, the Ramcharitmanas, scripted in gold, has been placed in the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. An ex-IAS officer, Subramanian Lakshminarayanan and his wife Saraswathy gave the Ramcharitmanas to the Ram Temple trust.
The golden Ramayana, estimated to be around Rs 5 crore, weighs 151 kg, with each page consisting of 10,902 verses coated with 24-carat gold. Lakshminarayanan, from Madhya Pradesh, had pledged to dedicate his entire life’s savings to Ram Lalla. His wife played an important role in giving shape to the golden Ramayana, News 18 reported.
“The retired bureaucrat is an ardent follower of lord Vishnu and he has donated all the savings for this cause,” Prakash Gupta, the in-charge of Ram Temple’s trust office was quoted as saying by Times of India. The golden Ramcharitmanas contains 480-500 pages and around 140 kg of copper has also been used as base metal in preparing it.
The gold-plated pages of the book were brought in bundles in separate parcels, and the binding was done in Ayodhya, ToI reported adding that the gold Ramcharitmanas has been crafted by Chennai-based Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers (VBJ), which designed and made Sengol, the historical sceptre installed in the new Parliament building.
Notably, The Ramcharitmanas, a Hindu epic, describes Lord Ram’s journey in six chapters – Bala Kanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Aranya Kanda, Kishkindha Kanda, Sundara Kanda and the Uttara Kanda.
Navratri celebrations began in Ayodhya with the installation of Kalash in the Ram Temple. Ram Lalla will be dressed in colourful silk as well as cotton clothes embroidered with peacock and other Vaishnav symbols for Ram Navami. A silver urn has been installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, the report added.
