 Viranarasingaraya, a Pallava-allied king, performed "thulabhara" (weighing oneself) against gold; his weight in gold was used to make the gold-plated copper sheets to cover the Vimana.This phase of construction is usually agreed as the fourth phase of Tirumala temple construction out of seven.In the 1950s, it was discovered that the gold was getting old and parts of the roof inside were caving into the Sanctum Sanctorum.