In the last part, I looked at a small portion of the historical and mythological evidences on the wealth of India.

Leaving the mythological stuff to aside let us look at the real world. Many a people wouldn’t know that the LARGEST GOLDEN TEMPLE IN THE WORLD IS IN TAMIL NADU. Sripuram near Vellore has a beautiful golden temple for the Hindu goddess Narayani. They have used 1,500 kilos of gold in the temple. You will be stunned to see the shining gold amidst an evergreen field surrounded by the blue mountains. The saint who lives there has planned and built it according to Hindu Vastu Shastra. Now compare it with the most famous Indian wonder the Golden Temple of Amritsar. The Sikhs used just 100 kilos of gold! But it is more famous than the Tamil temple.

Largest consumer of gold: India is the largest consumer of the yellow metal in the world. India imports 1,000 tonnes of gold every year. Though a big chunk of it is exported, once again it is Indian women who buy it back it from the jewellery shops of London, Dubai and Switzerland.

India has the largest number of gold jewellery shops in the world. One must visit South Avani Mula street of Madurai, particularly in the evening. The street is full of glittering gold shops. Even the ancient Tamil Cankam literature speaks about the 24 hour gold shops in Madurai. They called them Naal Angadi (day time shops) and Al Angadi (night time shops).

Indian households account for a whopping 15,000 tonnes of gold according to the latest newspaper reports. People have grossly underestimated the great thirst of Indian women for gold. Fish can live without water, but Indian women can’t live without gold. Is it a sweeping statement? No, not at all. Look at the temple sculptures and Ajanta and Sithannavassal paintings. We have got 3,000 years’ worth of proof for their taste for wearing expensive jewellery. Even the Indus valley dancing woman wears a chain with three pendants. The Barhut sculptures show women wearing enormous jewellery, the weight of which she can’t possibly bear. Next time you visit any temple, forget the gods and goddesses and look at the beauty of Indian jewellery on the sculptures. Tribal women on the Himalayas wear beautiful semi precious stones in their chains.

Whetted your appetite? There’s more to come! In the fourth part you will read about: