FOR time immemorial Tamil Nadu in particular has been the temple hub of the South. Ardent devotees have always found meaningful ways to venerate their idols. Probably one of the most exuberant manner in which this is done is through the donation of gold jewellery for the statues and images of deities at temples.
For Subramanian Rao an ardent devotee of lord Shiva “it is the ultimate form of worship. There is no better way to venerate the gods,” he says, adding that he has often donated jewellery as a show of devotion.
In today’s day and age however, large jewellery houses facilitate the provision of exquisite jewellery for the gods. One such large house of jewellery is the Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers popularly known as VBJ. Jitendra Vummidi from VBJ says “VBJ has long been concentrating on perfecting the art of creating masterpieces of temples around the world and the art is no longer confined only to India. We have been commissioned to create jewels for the Chicago temple and the bridge water temple in New Jersey,” says Jitendra Vummidi.
Artisans are no longer attached to temples and are instead commissioned to projects by jewellery houses. As per orders placed by the authorities of the Ayyappan Temple, VBJ has created a one-of-a-kind crown, studded with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Though the process assumes a divine tag, there seems to be no difference in the making of the jewels according to a leading jeweller in the city, who requested anonymity.
He said, “There is no sacred process or a type of community that makes gold.
We believe that it only becomes holy, once the gods adorn it.” But Madhurima Sunderalingam, an astrologer says, “When these jewels are made the artisans should not wear footwear and should have clean mannerisms. Preferably artisans from the Vedic community should oversee the process.”