Offtrack: Bangalore: A Pillar of the Faith

Thajudeen and his team have giving up eating meat while working on the Pillar. Even on ID, they stuck to the meals served by the temple.

Thajudeen and his team have giving up eating meat while working on the Pillar. Even on ID, they stuck to the meals served by the temple.

The banners can be seen from a distance: "Gold-plating of Ayyapan temple pillars. Please donate liberally". Within the Sree Ayyapan temple at Jalahalli, 16 km from Bangalore, work is on in full swing. The dwajasthambam -- the main pillar within the complex, at the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum -- has to be covered with gold leaf by May 20. The 28-member temple committee took six months to find the right craftsman for the job. The person they selected -- Mohammed Salyia Ameerjan Thajudeen -- has impeccable credentials: for several generations his family has been plating gopurams and pillars in temples across south India and making the sacred utensils used in puja at Guruvayur and Palani.

What is a Muslim doing in ultra-orthodox Hindu temples? "We have never been discriminated against in any of the temples where we have worked. We respect the sacred tenets of every religion," declares 44-year-old Thajudeen. He and his seven-member team, all Muslims, have forsaken meat for the duration, eating instead the austere, vegetarian fare served by the Ayyapan temple. "They may not wear a mala or worship at the idol's feet, but they are more pious than the devotees who come to the temple," says Jalahalli temple secretary V.R. Nair.

There are striking similarities between the Ayyapan shrines at Jalahalli and Sabarimala. Built in 1960, the 8,100 sq ft Jalahalli temple is the first of Bangalore's 47 Ayyapan temples. The panchaloha (five metals -- lead, iron, copper, silver and gold) idol was carved by T.M. Neelakanta Panicker of Chengannur, the sculptor who also created the Sabarimala idol. It was consecrated in 1967 by Brahmashri Thazhaman Madom Sankuru Tanthri, the then chief priest of the Travancore Devaswam Board who had also officiated at the installation of the idol at Sabarimala. "No other Ayyapan temple in India can boast of such a record," says Nair. "This temple will be known as the second Sabarimala."

In January, Thajudeen, a native of Palani, was asked to give his golden touch to the pillar at the second Sabarimala. Over the next four months, he was to coat the 41 ft dwajasthambam with 10 kg of gold. "It's a delicate and painstaking job," says Thajudeen. First, 24-carat gold biscuits (10 gm each) are flattened into thin 1" wide strips which are then cut into squares of 2 gm. Each piece is inserted between sheets of camel hide -- to absorb the heat and prevent the gold from slipping -- and hammered more than 2,000 times to form thin 5 micron gold films (a micron is one-millionth of a metre). The concrete pillar is given a casting of bronze over which the gold film is pasted using mercury as a binder. Ten such layers are pasted before the pillar is given a final polish. "You need God's blessings to make gold into thin film or gold leaves," declares Thajudeen.

You also need money -- lots of it. The golden touch for the Ayyapan temple pillar costs over Rs 55 lakh, Thajudeen's fee included. Says temple vice-president A. Mohana Krishnan: "Our temple attracts wealthy people from Bangalore and we have been tapping them for our resources apart from appealing to the public at large." Liquor magnate Vijay Mallya and his wife Rekha -- both ardent Ayyapan devotees -- have donated Rs 10 lakh for the project. Two years ago they funded the goldplating of the Sabarimala temple where 33 kg of the metal was used.

That was one project Thajudeen wasn't involved with, although he's done similar work at Guruvayur, Palani, Chennai and Rameshwaram. Now, he's trying to ensure the skills are passed on to his 15-year-old son Amiruddin, who helps Thajudeen between his studies. "He is serious about his studies," says the proud father. "I don't know what will happen to our family tradition but I am hoping it will continue."

Surprisingly, religion is not even an issue. Says Nair: "We are a secular temple. Besides, legend has it Lord Ayyapan's closest friend was Vavarswami, a Muslim. Why can't a Muslim work on an Ayyapan temple?" Thajudeen's own attitude is philosophical: "I follow a sacred approach to work, not a religious one." Words worth their weight in gold.