Holy books in gold!

A 63-year-old jeweller in Rajasthan has penned religious books including Surah Yasin Sharif, said to be the heart of the Holy Quran, literally in golden words.

Bhomraj Soni, a resident of Bikaner town in the state, some 350 km from Jaipur, used gold to pen down Yasin Sharif and Hanuman Chalisa - a prayer for Hindu god Hanuman - on paper.

He used 45 grams of gold in writing the holy books, which are of 17 pages each.

Soni, a jeweller by profession, had to practise for months before actually getting down to the 'holy' work.

"I know how to design jewellery, but I always wanted to do something different in my profession. I am a religious man, so the idea struck me that I should use gold to write religious books," Soni told IANS.

Soni said that it may sound easy, but when he tried to implement the idea, he realised how difficult it was.

"It required a lot of concentration and practice. To write words in gold using our professional equipment was quite difficult. It took me almost one year to complete the work. You need to be very precise in the very limited space. Now, I myself wonder how I made it possible," said Soni.

"It took about 15 grams of gold to write the Hanuman Chalisa and 30 grams for Surah Yasin Sharif," he said.

"Scores of people were visiting my place daily to see the works," he added.

"People are gradually coming to know about my work. Several people from various parts of the country have called me up expressing their wish to see the books," said Soni.