VISAKHAPATNAM: Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy Devasthanam (SVLND) of Simhachalam has decided to melt around 1,000 kg of unused white metal (silver) ornaments and other damaged ritual objects donated by the pilgrims at the Hyderabad Mint soon. The devasthanam had earlier converted around 620 kg of unused and damaged silver ornaments into pure silver metal bars. However, antique jewellery donated to the temple by Vijayanagara emperor Sri Krishnadevaraya and other kings would not be touched.
The devasthanam is planning to set up an ‘Antique Museum’ at the newly constructed ‘Ramanuja Kutam’ building on the hill shrine as early as possible. In the museum, the devasthanam will display the ancient jewellery like Pachhalapataka Haram, Tulasi, Salagrama and Mutyala Haram along with coins donated by various kings and royal families to Lord Appanna. The SVLND arranged some specially designed 7 to 8 iron boxes for the safe transportation of these silver ornaments to the India Government Mint of Hyderabad unit. The Hyderabad Mint is known as the most modern unit in the country, equipped with the stateof- the-art facilities.
It is one of Asia’s biggest mints with refining facility. Earlier too, the SVLND authorities approached the Hyderabad Mint authorities to melt and change the unused silver ornaments into pure silver bars weighing about 620 kg. The silver bars are preserved in the Visakhapatnam District Treasury under tight security. These 1,000 kg silver stock may fetch around `4.5 crore at the rate of `45,200 a kg as on date in the bullion market. With this, Simhachalam Narasimha Swamy is said to be one of the richest gods in terms of gold and silver offered by devotees next to Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala.
“Reacting to the directives of higher authorities and devasthanam hereditary trustee and former Union Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, we took the decision to melt the unused, badly damaged silver ornaments and ritual objects weighing around 1,000 kg at the Hyderabad Mint. The process was initiated after the confirmation of weight and usefulness of the silver stock by the devasthanam authorised jewellery valuer. We made all necessary arrangements to shift the stock to Hyderabad under tight security. After making the stock into pure silver bars, they will be preserved in the district treasury. Meanwhile, we are working on the proposed ‘Antique Museum’ designs, which will be finalised soon,” said the EO of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy Devasthanam.