Sikh devotees from Birmingham, who are carrying out restoration work for the Golden Temple in Amritsar, have been accused of defacing the shrine by an Indian expert.
For the last nine years teams of untrained Sikh devotees from the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha in Birmingham have travelled to Amritsar to help rebuild the temple's famous gold dome. But now an Indian conservation architect claims they are turning it into an "ungodly and gaudy showpiece."
Gurmeet Rai has warned that the "incompetent" restoration work had jeopardised plans for the temple to be granted World Heritage status. It is believed many Midland Sikh families have donated gold for the restoration work of the dome which is covered with 300kg gold.
Rai, in Delhi, pointed out a series of blunders including devotees covering priceless wall paintings of Sikh Gurus with "avocado green bathroom tiles and plastic stickers". She said that wall which were originally made of limestone have been plastered with cement leaving the temple susceptible to dampness as it is situated in the middle of a lake.
She said: "I have had several confrontations with the Birmingham Sikhs over their methods in trying to renovate such an important and delicate structure. Original materials have been replaced by enamel paints and resins and the whole complex now has the appearance of an ungodly and gaudy showpiece."
"The colours used to repaint some of the interior are more suited to a fairground carousel than our holiest shrine," she said and added that it is, however, "difficult to lay the entire blame on the volunteers as they feel they are doing a service to their community which plays a big part in Sikhism. But it's like asking a normal painter and decorator to renovate the Sistine Chapel."
Sikh historian and author Patwant Singh has also supported Rai's claims. He said: "Generosity is fine and sewa [voluntary service] is brilliant. But it doesn't mean you can ignore principles of conservation because then it becomes an ego trip."
But Mohinder Singh, a civil engineer and chairman of the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha has reacted to the charges saying: "History will record that I was responsible for doing the gold gilding and my conscience is clear."
In any case the criticism is bound to cause ripples in not only Birmingham but in the entire Sikh community in Britain.