The management of Khankah-i-Maulla today received the finished version of restored and reconstructed crown of the shrine that was damaged in a fire incident on 15th November last year.
“It took us more than two months to restore the crown that sits on the top of the spire,” said Shahid Shafi. “The artisans of Kashmir, Amritsar and New Delhi were roped in to complete the project.”
The crown is primarily made up of copper and has been electroplated with gold. The 110 kg crown together with top leaf stands at 11 feet in height. It has a diameter of four feet and three inches.
The management organised a spiritual gathering on the occasion and cleansed and purified the crown with rose water. Awradh e Fateh was also recited and prayers were made for the peace and welfare of people and religious institutions.
“The crown is going to be installed on 12th Rajab (March 30) that corresponds to the birth anniversary of Hazrat Ali (RA), Shah-e-Hamdan (RA) and Hazrat Ibn-e-Abbas,” said Shafi.
The entire cost of the restoration and reconstruction work of the crown was borne by the Khankashi community of the shrine. “We didn’t entirely build it new. We carefully restored its old parts whatever could be salvaged from the damage. The top of the crown, some parts in middle, design and 22 floral patterns are from the original crown,” said Shafi. “The things that were completely damaged had to be made afresh.”
Inside the crown the management found a copper tube on which its history and dates were written. The inscriptions clearly mentioned that the crown was damaged twice in the past. The first time it was damaged was in year 1137 hijri (1724-1725) and the second was in the last century in 1366 hijri (1946-1947). Now with the current restoration, the management has added new date on it to continue with the tradition.
To safeguard the shrine from any unfortunate incident lightening arresters have also been installed at the top of the shrine.