Chennai: Though it is highly debatable as to who can be a better custodian of heritage temples in Tamil Nadu – the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) department or the Archaeological Survey of India - the Unesco team, nevertheless, exposed the chinks in the armour of the state HR & CE with regard to conserving temples.
To HR & CE, ancient temples of heritage value are “living monuments” forming part of continuing tradition while to the ASI, which does not interfere in the conduct of puja or other religious activities, it restricts development in such “monuments” or in the vicinity. Sthapathis, who are experts in temple architecture and well versed in the Indian architecture, say they should be made the core-engineering wing of the HR & CE to take up conservation from time to time and not relegate the task to ASI or civil engineering experts.
Their plea is not without reason. The stark reality is that renovation or repair works for kumbhabhishekam or other occasions are invariably carried out by either contractors who have no knowledge about the temple architecture or the HR & CE’s engineers with civil engineering background end up in executing minor tasks. “Our engineers mostly oversee the work and are involved only in construction of kalyana mandapam (marriage hall) and temple kitchen. They are not directly involved in renovation,” a temple official told this correspondent on Wednesday.
Admitting that the temple officials seek the opinion of ASI when it pertains to renovation, the official explained that in several cases where the temple structures are pulled down or the precincts undergo modernisation, they are mainly because of the enthusiasm of donors who take up the “development” work at the temple.
For instance, the 800-year-old Siva temple, the Choliswarar Temple in Tholur village, was demolished with a bulldozer. This was because a senior ASI official who inspected the temple suggested dismantling and reconstructing the temple as vegetation had enveloped the temple structure.
Heritage lovers however, objected to this as dismantling can never be the solution to prevent the growth of vegetation.
Controversies erupted during the renovation of temples in the Thyagaraja Swamy temple, Tiruvottiyur here and also at the Kailasanathar temple and Vaikunta Perumal temple in neighbouring Kancheepuram. “The ASI had dispatched diploma holders in civil engineering to inspect the Kailasanathar temple and Vaikunta Perumal temple. When it comes to conservation or taking up minor repairs, civil engineers may not be adept as we are with regard to temple architecture,” said a sthapathi.
Like engineers in HR & CE, the conservation assistants in ASI are involved in constructing housing blocks and other amenities.
“If Tamil Nadu temples’ heritage is to be preserved, the HR & CE and the ASI, as well, should involve more of Sthapathis,” he said and added that the Unesco report said the HR & CE department had neither the capacity nor qualified experts to carry out conservation work. Proper system was not being followed for documenting, assessing, reporting, and tendering of heritage structures, the report had said.Meanwhile, HR & CE has brought out a draft manual on preserving heritage temples.
