Gold-plating of nearly 180ft Mahabodhi Mahavihara has been started on Tuesday.

Around 289kg of gold donated by devotees in Thailand to be installed around the spire of the Unesco World Heritage Site was brought to Bodhgaya on Monday evening. The yellow metal, packed in 13 boxes, has been brought here by Thai Airways flight TG-327. Gaya district magistrate-cum-Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC) chairman Balamurugan D. and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nishant Kumar Tiwari brought the gold from airport to Mahavihara under their supervision.

Although installation of gold did not start on Tuesday, artists who have arrived here from Thailand inspected the spire. The work of gold-plating around the spire of nearly 180ft-high tower of the Mahabodhi shrine is being done by Thailand-based Krieng Thavorn Containers Company Limited.

A 40-member team, including 24 security personnel from Thailand, has also arrived Bodhgaya with the gold. The yellow metal has been kept under tight security on Mahabodhi Mahavihara campus. Sky-folding stairs have been installed around the shrine to enable experts reach atop the shrine structure and carry out gold-plating.

BTMC secretary Nangzey Dorjee told The Telegraph that the gold donated by devotees from Thailand has been brought in form of thin gold sheet. The sheet will be wrapped on the spire. It will not alter the original shape of the shrine. The existing spire is not of pure gold but it is a gold gilt.

All formalities like clearance from the ministry of culture, central excise, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), customs and other related departments have been completed before importing the gold from Thailand.

Gold-plating will be done under technical supervision of the ASI officials and also the technical team from Thailand. It is likely to take more than one month to complete the project but if extended the period would not exceed two months. A special prayer will be organised under the sacred Bodhi tree on the Mahavihara campus on November 16 in which around 500 devotees from Thailand, including donors of gold, are likely to participate, Dorjee said.

ASI, Patna, circle superintendent Madan Singh Chauhan said permission had already been granted for gold-plating. Experts from the Thai company working on the project and ASI experts would jointly supervise the work, Chauhan said.

Apart from the regular security on Mahavihara campus, additional security cover has been provided for the gold. Security personnel from Thailand are also camping on the Mahavihara campus.