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Vellore Fort

Vellore Fort built in 16th century by Sinna Bommi Nayak, a vasal chieftain under the Vijayanagar kings, Sada Sriranga Maharaja. It is constructed of granite blocks and surrounded by a moat which is supplied by a subterranean drain fed from a tank. Later, it became the fortress of Mortaza Ali, the brother-in-law of Chanda Sahib who claimed the Arcot throne, and was taken by the Adil Shah sultans of Bijapur. In 1676, it passed briefly into the hands of the Marathas until they, in turn, were displaced by the nawab, Daud Khan, of Delhi in 1708. The British occupied the fort in 1760, following the fall of Srirangapatnam and the death of Tipu Sultan

Jalakanteshwara Temple

This temple, built around 1550 A.D, is still a gem of late Vijayanagar architecture and is a popular place of worship. This ancient temple is named after Jalakanteswara, or “Lord Siva residing in the water.” Its pillared mandapam, famed for its sculptures is considered a masterpiece of it's time. This temple is located in the Vellore Fort, near the north wall of the fort.

VELLORE: The Sri Lakshmi Narayani Temple located in Sripuram (spiritual town) in Thirumalaikkodi, about seven km from here, was consecrated by Sri Sakthi Amma, head of the Sri Narayani Peedam, Thirumalaikkodi, on Friday.

A large number of devotees gathered for the occasion.

Unique structure

It is a unique temple whose Vimanam and Ardha Mandapam have been coated with gold both in the interior and exterior.

Twelve layers of gold foils have been pasted on copper sheets embossed with the designs of Gods and fixed on the walls.

One-and-a-half tonnes of gold has gone into the design of the Sri Lakshmi Narayani Temple, which has been built at a cost of Rs.300 crore.

100-acre site

According to Sri Sakthi Amma, the decision to have the temple coated with gold is only to attract visitors and enable them to get wisdom through the messages of the Vedas, which they will have to read before reaching the temple located on sprawling a 100 acre-site.

The temple has been designed in such a way that visitors can reach the golden temple only after going through a star-shaped pathway, which has the messages from the Vedas on both sides.

Tamil Nadu can boast of its own Golden Temple now

Vellore: If you see the temple, you might even think that the temple is made of gold. And your guessing will be correct.

The Golden Temple is about 140 km from Chennai at Tirumalaikodi in Vellore district.

Sri Narayani Peedam, a private religious charitable organisation, built the temple. And the glittering monument also boasts of some glittering figures.

"The actual estimate is about 300 crores. The amount of gold that went into it's making is 1,500 kilos," says head, Sri Narayani Peedam, Sri Sakthi Amma.

A breathtaking wonder of intricate designs, the temple dedicated to Goddess Narayani is in the midst of lush greenery spread over 100 acres.

Except the pathways, even the roofs and the pillars of the temple are made of gold as about 1.5 tonnes of the metal went into its making.

The Peedom says the funds for building the temple were collected from NRIs.

But is this an attempt to match up to the other golden temple?

"Well! We need to see the people's reaction-how the world is accepting it," says Shakti Amma.

The temple will be formally consecrated on Friday and will be thrown open to the public from the next day.

Now even Tamil Nadu can boast of a wonder of its own- the Golden Temple created with about 1.5 tonnes of gold and which is already on its way to making history.