PANCHALOHA STATUE OF FATHER OF OUR NATION

What is panchaloha???
    Panchaloha is the material composed of  an alloy of gold(Au), silver(Ag), copper(Cu), Brass and lead(Pb) as the major constituent.The composition is laid down in the Shilpa shastras, an ancient text on idol making.It is widely believed that wearing jewellery made of Panchaloha / Panchdhatu brings balance in life, self-confidence, good health, fortune, prosperity, and peace of mind.It is traditionally described as. Instead of lead, some use tin (Sn) or zinc (Zn).

    Practical compositions are Cu, Au, Ag, Pb and Zn; Cu, Ag, Pb, Fe and Sn; and Sn, Cu, Fe, Pb, and brass. Because of the cost, gold and silver are now omitted from the manufacture of general-purpose icons, where copper, brass, and lead in the ratios 29:2:1 are used.

THE PANCHALOHA STATUE

Panruti:

    Panruti is a small town in cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu.It is located near the famous coal mines city "Neyveli".It is famous mainly for its Jack fruit and cashew nuts.The name Panruti came from 'pan' meaning 'song' and 'ruti' meaning 'music' in Tamil, as the place is where many saints and great religious singers such as nayanmars and vainavas sung. A 150-year-old government school was built here by the British East India Company and a more-than-1000-year-old temple Veeratteswarar temple is nearby in Thiruvathigai.

The panchaloha statue:

    There is a park situated in Panruti near the bus stand where the four roads are joining.In that park there is a statue of Gandhi which is painted.The people in the town thought that the statue is simply made of cement and painted.There is not as much as crowd visit the park.The park looks empty and no proper facilities available.The government also didn't take necessary precautions to preserve the park.So the people are careless about the statue.

    Finally the reconstruction of statue took place and when the workers were scrapping off the paint and layers of the statue,they found that it was made up of Gold.The archaeologists revealed that it was not made up of gold but it was made up of Panchaloha. The statue is of five feet high and 210 Kilo grams weight.It may contains about 60 Kilo grams of gold and costs about Rs.15 crores. Paneer Selvan and municipal commissioner Perumal have decided to spruce up the security by installing CCTV cameras, iron gates and appointing security guards.

    As the news spread, traders and residents thronged the park to see the statue that they hitherto did not even spare a glance for.Now Panruti has become popular for this reasons.

Unknown facts:

    Truly,it was not found due to the reconstruction process.It was found by some stranger who was sleeping under the statue.Unexpectedly he saw the stick in the hand of Gandhi was lightly cracked and something shined.He broke it and confirmed that it was made of some expense materials.Then he broke the full hand stick and left the place.He was now head covered with the Panchaloha stick.After some days people saw that there was some changes in the statue and searched for it and then they found that the stick was broken and the Panchaloha shined.So only the government placed the CCTV camera around the park.
    Somebody in that town revealed the history that when Gandhi was assaulted in 1948,his ash was brought from Gujarat to Rameshwaram. In between they were stopped at Panruti for rest,then the people decided to construct a statue for our Father of Nation.All the people gave gold, silver, brass, and etc.,as much as they possible.Then the materials were melted and constructed a statue by Panchaloha. After some years it was painted and hence it was unknown to people that it's worth.