Ornamentation

The ornamentation of the Holy Pindies was done gradually over a period of time since the discovery of the Holy Shrine. Various devotees offered jewelry, crowns, Chhatras, idols etc, for the ornamentation of the Holy Pindies. The same ornamentation continued all these years and everything was kept practically untouched. Various idols and statues donated by the Kings and placed in the Sanctum Sanctorum were also visible immediately behind the Pindies. This resulted in a cluttering of the Sanctum Sanctorum and many pilgrims complained that the decorations and ornamentations tended to overshadow the Holy Pindies themselves.

With the inception of the Shrine Board, it was decided to use a curtain behind the Holy Pindies and use fewer flowers for day to day ornamentation and decoration, in order to enable the pilgrims to have more visibility and better Darshans of the Holy Pindies. The use of curtains and fewer flowers coupled with efforts to inform and educate the pilgrims regarding the main Darshans brought in positive results and yatries reported to having more satisfying and complete Darshans.

Then, in 2000-01, on the persistent requests of many devotees and with the efforts of the Shrine Board, the entire ornamentation of the Holy Pindies was redone in 52 kgs of pure gold, besides diamonds and precious stones. The platform around the Holy Pindies and the patio type structure just outside the Holy Cave, popularly known as Atka were also renovated with white marble. The work was completed on 31st January 2001 and after Poojan and Havan, the items of the ornamentation were presented at the lotus feet of the Divine Mother.

There are continuing requests from devotees who wish to offer ornaments, chatters or other similar offerings in the Holy Cave. While smaller ornaments can be put into the jewelry box placed on the platform in the Holy Cave, larger ornaments may be deposited with the Board’s Office at Katra or Holy Bhawan under proper receipt. The larger ornaments are then carefully stored in the Strong Room and used for ornamentation and decoration of the Pindies on a rotational basis