page_title: Ananda Nilayam
section_title: 1950s and 1960s renovation
hierarchical_section_title: Ananda Nilayam / Construction / 1950s and 1960s renovation
caption_attribution_description: English: Golden Vimana, Tirupathi
context_page_description: Ananda Nilayam is the glittering gold-plated gopuram of the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. According to Vaishnava philosophy, gopurams of the sanctum sanctorum are named:
  Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala: Ananda Nilayam
  Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam: "Pranavaakaara Vimanam"
  Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram: Punyakoti Vimanam
context_section_description: In the 1950s, it was discovered that the gold was getting old and parts of the roof inside were caving into the Sanctum Sanctorum. The TTD decided to replace the aging metal and fix the roof.
  All the gold was removed and painstakingly replaced; the damaged levels of the roof below were fixed with cement and extra strength metal grouting reinforcement. During this period in the mid-1960s, no worship could be performed in the Sanctum Sanctorum and so the "power" of the chief deity was shifted into a temporary idol carved and placed elsewhere in the temple. All the worship was performed in this new "Bala Aalaya" (Child Temple).
  It took five years for the carpenters and builders to get dies of the nooks and crannies of the roof and finally copper plates were cast into those shapes. Long nails of the 10th century AD were removed and replaced with solid cement and metal grouting using 20th century construction techniques. The copper plates were then installed and fixed in place. Fine "Aparanji" (the best quality) gold was chiseled into plates and riveted onto the copper plates.
  A grand ceremony of sanctifying the new grand, golden Ananda Nilaya Vimanam took place in 1964 with "Ashta Bandhana Maha Samprokshanam". The ceremony has been repeated ever since once every 12 years to undertake repairs in the temple.
caption: Golden Vimana of Tirumala Temple
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