NAMAKKAL: Artisans from Namakkal have crafted 42 bells which will be used in the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, which will be inaugurated in January 2024.
Rajendra Prasad (69), a devotee from Bengaluru is donating the bells to the temple. He contacted the pProprietor of Aandal Molding works, R Rajendran (66) and placed an order for 42 bells. Earlier this month, the artisan team completed the work. The bells are placed in the famous Anjaneyar temple where special prayers would be performed.
Speaking to TNIE, R Rajendran said, “It is a great honour for us to have contributed to the Ram temple. Our family has been involved with making various temple ornaments for close to seven generations. It took 20 workers about a month to complete all 42 bells.”
An artisan, R Kalidas aka Purushodhaman said, “The dimension of each bell varies, there are five bells which weigh about 120 kg, six others weigh over 70 kg and some weigh over 25 kg. We are still in the process of making the remaining bells. The 42 bells weighed a collective total of 1,250 kg. To manufacture the bells we have used various materials like copper, silver, bronze, etc.”
“A total of 108 bells are required for the temple in Ayodhya. As part of the first batch of bells we will send these 42 bells to Bengaluru from where the bells will be forwarded to Ayodhya,” Kalidas added.