Durgiana Temple deodhi doors get facelift, finally

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 24

The Durgiana Temple Management Committee has got repaired the main doors of ‘deodhi’, decorating it with silver, around 90 years after its installation. Two doors, which were removed a month ago, were reinstall at ‘deodhi’ on Friday. Around 15 artisans from Banaras worked for a month to put silver on the wooden idols on doors. The artisans used 165 kg of silver on booth the doors.

The idols of Lord Shiva, Krishna, Radha-Krishna, Lakshami, Ganesha and Vishnu were engraved on the old wooden door. Instead of replacing it, the management preferred to repair the old sagwan (teak) wood. The artisans coated the wooden engraved idols with silver.

Ramesh Kumar, president, Durgiana Temple Management Committee, said, “The idea to replace the doors with new wood was rejected by the committee members as everyone wanted to preserve the heritage. The temple was built in 1930 and the doors were installed in the same year.

Then, the management had used 30-kg silver to decorate the doors. The silver layer was quite thin and got damaged years ago. We have repaired the wooden clumps and coated with silver. The management has spent Rs 70 lakh on the doors.”

The state government has been working for the beatification of Durgiana Temple. There were two separate projects, one was sanctioned during the SAD-BJP regime and being executed by the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT). A separate project of 100 crore for the heritage street has been announced by the Congress government, but yet to be executed.

Ramesh Kumar, president, Durgiana Temple Management Committee, said the beatification project was going on at a snail’s pace and the work on first phase was yet to complete. “The doors were not installed by the government. The management has repaired and fitted the doors,” he added.