Aeroplane scrap to be turned into Sai temple

Alipur businessman buys body of an A320 plane for Rs 18 lakh at an auction, plans to install idol of Sai Baba and turn it into a museum for all. HT reports.

Strange as it may seem, a plane disrupted traffic on the busy GT Karnal Road on early Saturday morning.

The 100-feet-long fuselage of an Airbus A320 loaded on to a trailer was on its way to Alipur, where it was going to be turned into a temple-cum-museum.

Rakesh Dixit, an Alipur-based businessman, had bought the plane fuselage in scrap. It was loaded on to the trailer at the Indira Gandhi International Airport and was on its way to Alipur when the police stopped it at the GT Karnal Road near Narela in northwest Delhi.

The huge trailer had thrown the traffic at the busy GT Karnal Road out of gear and the police ordered it to wait till Saturday midnight to continue its journey to Alipur.

"The plane was released from the airport at midnight. It reached Narela early in the morning, resulting in a huge traffic jam. So, we advised the owner to park it near the Narela industrial corridor and to take it to Alipur on Saturday midnight," said a senior police officer.

Dixit had bought the fuselage for Rs 18 lakh. The Airbus A320 was grounded after serving Air India for over 20 years, its tail and wings have been sawed off.

Dixit plans to install a deity of Sai Baba inside the fuselage, turning it into a temple and would also make a museum out of it.

"It is junk and has no engine or passenger chairs. We bought the body at an Air India auction. We will convert it into a temple-cum-museum," said Dixit, a scrap dealer.

"It would be a first of its kind museum and temple in India. I am a follower of Sai Baba and there couldn't have been a better gift to Baba's followers, who will come from across the country to see the aeroplane temple and museum," Dixit, 45, said.