By Meenakshi Bhaskar Vaidya at Somnath: Entire exterior of Somnath Mandir will dress new avatar soon.

A group of about three dozen laborers is now applying color on exterior of this grand temple which is 151 ft tall and standing right next to the Arabian sea on Saurashtra coast. The color which is specially made for Somnath Mandir was first applied to a sculpture on Southern gate of Mandir for demonstration purpose. It was okayed for entire temple complex after thorough deliberation by Shri Somnath Trust.

Ivory water based gold – matodi gold color once applied on the mandir surface will give entire temple complex a shiny golden look. The color work will pacify coastal environment related impacts to temple exterior. It will give extended life to sculptures. The color has been specially made by Nerolac company exclusively for Somnath Mandir.

For last two and half months, the temple has been given exterior treatment to eliminate coastal wind impacts. Later chemical liquid layer was applied. Liquid, layer and color all three are water based. More sunlight will give more shine to exterior of this grand structure therefore. The color will match with already initiated golden conversion process of temple. The color/protection layer project is likely to complete in second half of this year. Just by washing the structure with water once every three months, the temple will get fresh look again and again. Some glimpses of new color will be visible to pilgrims by Maha Shivratri next month.

DeshGujarat