Tirumala, September 25, 2013: The trial-run of the new golden chariot whose works are in the final stages will be organised on the 30th of this month.

Briefing mediapersons, the Tirumala-based TTD’s Joint Executive Officer K.S. Srinivasa Raju on Tuesday said that work on the new golden chariot, which the TTD has taken up on a prestigious note with a whopping budgetary outlay of Rs. 40 crore, is in full swing. The chariot is expected to be completed by the 27th of this month.

About seventy-four kilograms of gold besides 2,900 kilograms of copper has gone into the making of the chariot which is thirty-two feet in height. The mesmerising chariot with its sheen and splendour is one of its kind in the entire country and weighs over 28 tonnes.

Once the work relating to the assemblage and providing of gold malam (coating) are completed, the chariot will be shifted to the specially constructed mandapam in front of the main temple complex from the present closely guarded premises of the SV museum. The dazzling chariot was coated with nine layers of gold to achieve a magnificent look.

Earlier, Raju along with the TTD’s CVSO G.V.G. Ashok Kumar and other temple and engineering officials inspected the ongoing gold coating works.

Source: The Hindu, September 25, 2013