High Court Panel Evaluated Renovation Of Temples In And Around Chennai & Found Much Damage Had Been Done
In his first interim report on conservation of ancient temples in Tamil Nadu submit ted to the Madras high court in August-end, P S Raman, appointed as amicus curiae, lamented the disregard with which living monuments in the state were being treated.
He led a five-member team comprising temple experts and lawyers to study three temples in and around Chennai -the Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane, the 1,000-year-old Adhipureeswarar temple in Thiruvottiyur and Mamallapuram's famous Mahishasuramardini cave temple.
The findings were shocking in the extent of violations of international norms pertaining to restoration of ancient monumental structures. There are a few laws and fewer rules governing conservation of temple architecture in India, considering the country and the state house outstanding ancient shrines. The 1972 Unesco World Heritage Convention sought to draw the attention for the need to protect heritage sites.Mandated to make domestic laws in consonance with the convention, India, a signatory , introduced the National Commission for the Heritage Sites Bill 2009 in the Rajya Sabha in February that year.Finding that the bill fell short of India's commitment under the Unecso Convention, it was referred to the Parliamentary standing committee and thereafter the bill has not seen the light of the day , said the Raman panel report.
Renovations were being undertaken in temples that were neither in consonance with their ethos nor as per the Agamashastra, and definitely with no value attached to the historical significance of the structures, said Raman of the three temples in the committee's first round of findings. “The casual manner in which ancient inscriptions have been replaced with tiles, enamel paintings and civil construction adjoining or abutting temple structures. inspire little confidence as to whether any kind of care is being taken during renovations,“ he said. The panel is set to submit another detailed report on October 14.
Raman said his team would engage necessary personnel to draft a manual for conservation of temples taking note of all the best practices in the world. He suggested that a high-powered panel be constituted with representatives from the government, conservation specialists, archaeologists, people well-versed in Agamashastra and other religious texts and community leaders for restoration activities.
-- Edited by Admin on Tuesday 13th of October 2015 10:42:41 AM
HERITAGE IN RUINS - HC stops temple renovation for `shoddy work'
A Subramani
Chennai:
The shoddy `renovation' being undertaken at early Chola age temples where idols are made to go through reckless sand and water blasting, has worried Madras high court, which ordered the government to stop renovation work without proper supervision.
“The photographs produced before us reflect the actual position before and after the renovation. It is a matter of concern. This is the position of early Chola age temples,“ the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T S Sivagnanam said on Monday .
Referring to the apprehension of Heritage Conservation Committee represented by its secretary S Sivakumar, whose public nterest litigation on the sub ect is being heard by the first bench along with a PIL filed on the basis of various media reports, the bench said: “The apprehension of the petitioner is that such a shoddy work should not continue to somehow exhaust the funds which have been made available.“ “We are in prima facie agreement with the aforesaid view and thus, direct that no renovation work should be carried out unless it is technologically and properly supervised. The claim is that after sand and water blasting, immense damage has been caused to the statues,“ the first bench said.
The bench has already appointed senior advocate P S Raman as amicus curiae to lead a team of experts, to study ancient temples and the damage caused to them in the name of renovation.
The committee visited Mamallapuram and three other temples including the 1,600-year-old Vadivudai Amman temple in Tiruvottriyur and, on the basis of its observations, filed a damning interim report on August 31 in which it listed violations of conservation rules and spiritual practices carried out by government agencies in the name of renovations.
Sivakumar, an implead petition, too had submitted photographic evidence of damage caused by water and sand blasting.
As `renovation' continued despite the matter pending before the court, he filed the present miscellaneous petition to halt the work.
