Tirumala, September 25: The renovation of Vendi Vakili of Srivari temple here was completed on Saturday. The entrance of Sampangi Prakaram of the temple is called Vendi Vakili, as it is covered entirely with silver. After passing through it one enters the Bangaru Vakili.
It has been eight decades since the last renovation of Vendi Vakili was done. For some time, the silverplating on the doors of Vendi Vakili entrance suffered damage and lost its lustre.
Eighty years ago, Mahants, who were looking after the affairs of the temple, had silverplated the entrance to the temple after the Dhwajastambham.
At that time 1,246 veeselu of silver (one veese is equivalant to about 8 kg) was used. With people touching it out of devotion and wrought by vagaries of weather and time, the silver had lost its lustre and even cracks appeared in the coating.
After a lot of discussion, the administration took up the renovation and used 934 kg of silver for fresh plating. In all, 64 artisans from Tamil Nadu have worked tirelessly for three weeks and completed the work before the 40day deadline.
S Narayana, a Delhi devotee who heads a religious trust Srivatsasa Charities, came forward to donate the silver.
Expressing satisfaction over the work, the donor thanked executive officer LV Subrahmanyam, joint EO Srinvasa Raju and other officials for their support in completing the task earlier.
As a token of appreciation for their work, the executive officer presented new clothes to the silversmiths.
He clarified that there was no restriction on donations to the temple and the TTD had a list of requirements for the temple and it would be provided to the donors at request. He hoped that more donors would come forward to donate for the Golden Chariot which would be completed by next year’s Brahmotsavams.
–Agencies