Diamond-studded 'sacred thread' for Lord Balaji

Srirangam, Mar 3: A diamond-studded 'sacred thread' (Vaira Poonool) worth about Rs 50 lakh is being presented to Lord Sri Venkatachalapathy in Tirupathi by the Sri Ramanuja Mutt, Srirangam.

Made of gold weighing about 3.25 kg and embedded with about 450 diamonds (36.95 carats in all), the jewel would be a gift from Sri Narayana Jeer of on March 06, 2007.

The donation is sponsored by K Mohanraj and family of Cheyyar in Vellore District and the gift was crafted by artisans in a leading jewellery shop at Chennai.

Briefing the media today, the Jeer Swami said that the gift was a part of recurring and continued relationship between the Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple of Srirangam and the TTD.

The sacred thread, after being put on display at Srirangam till tomorrow, would be taken to the Tirumala hills and be sanctified on the auspicious day of March 5.

It was six feet long and had six rows embedded with diamonds and a front-piece embedded with a large emerald and other precious stones. Along with the jewel, gift articles like silk sarees, dhothis, would also be gifted to the Sri Govindaraja Swami Temple at Tirupati and Goddess Sri Padmavathi Thayar Temple at Tiruchanoor.

The Jeer added that the TTD had assigned land of 5,000 sq ft at Tirumala Hills on which the Mutt planned to construct a tourist lodge.

The project at an outlay of Rs 50 lakh would comprise Mutt premises, dormitory accommodation and other amenities meant for pilgrims.

The civil work would commence in another two to three weeks and it was hoped the two-storied complex would be ready in with months.

When the precious jewel was kept on display at the Mutt premises this morning at Srirangam, hundreds of devotees had a glimpse.

UNI