India's Mahabodhi temple, one of the world's holiest Buddhist shrines, is to have its dome inlaid with 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of gold donated by Thailand's king and other devotees, officials said Thursday. The precious metal arrived late Monday on a special flight from Bangkok and is under armed guard at the temple in Bodh Gaya, a holy town about 100 kilometres (64 miles) from Patna, the capital of Bihar state.
"A 40-member team including experts and two dozen commandos from Thailand have arrived at Bodh Gaya with gold in 13 boxes," Arvind Kumar Singh, a member of the temple management committee, told AFP. The gold would be worth around $14.5 million at the current international price. The work at the complex, which was rocked by a series of crude bombs in July, was likely to be finished in about a month. The Mahabodhi temple, built about 1,500 years ago, is a UNESCO world heritage site and marks the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment in 531 BC.