Rich devotion at Amritsar's Golden Temple

It is often said temples in India are repositories of wealth. Thirteen millionaire temples were reported to exist in Himachal Pradesh recently.

And this is again evidenced by the fact that devotees are offering Rumalas (the covering for the Guru Granth Sahib) at the Golden Temple, priced at Rs 28,000-125,000.

Made of velvet or silk, these Rumalas are embroidered with precious stones and zardozi work. About 25 shops around the Golden Temple are dealing in these exquisite Rumalas, customers being local people and NRIs.

Talking to Business Standard, Golden Temple Manager Roop Singh said, "Each day the Rumalas at Harmider Sahib (Golden Temple) are changed; in spite of this, devotees have to wait for nearly six months to offer Rumalas."

The offering of Rumalas is not restricted to the Golden Temple. Sikhs around the world practise this, clearly indicating that the trend is catching up. It is the exquisite craftsmanship of the rumals that makes it so expensive.

Gauravdeep Singh, partner in Sham Singh Darshan Singh, one of the oldest shops dealing in Rumalas, said: "The Rumalas are hand-embroidered and the materials used like nakshi, kora, tara, tilla and dabka are of finest quality, therefore expensive. And the cloth on which embroidery is done is either velvet or silk. Velvets Rumalas are offered in winter, while silk ones in summer."

"It is not just the NRIs who are our customers; even locals are not far behind. They are as generous as the NRIs in their offerings."

"Apart from India, we serve gurudwaras in 27 countries. Devotees learn of us from people and come up with specific demands," Gauravdeep Singh said.

Singh said some clients wanted rumalas to be gorgeous, indicating when it comes to devotion money doesn't matter. But there are retailers who prefer cheaper fabrics like thick georgette and mixed crepe.