Looking at the Srirangam temple in the light of the UNESCO’s ‘Award of Merit’……..
In the first of this month, Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam, received a notification from UNESCO that it had won the ‘Award of Merit’ for Cultural Heritage Conservation. In their praise, the Jury consisting of nine International conservation experts stated that the conservation of temple has revived the extensive religious complex at the core of Srirangam temple town. “The project has revealed the original fabric of the shrines, water bodies and landscape within the temple’s four inner enclosures, which were once obscured under layers of inappropriate modern additions and tons of debris. Employing traditional construction materials and techniques, the restoration work was carried out in an authentic manner by local craftspeople in accordance with ancient building principles and rites.”
Over the last century, several additional constructions had cropped up inside the temple. Many of the sub-shrines were surrounded by debris that had, in some cases, risen 10 ft. covering the base of these sannidhis. The pathway from the Thayar sannidhi to the 1,000-pillar mandapam through Periya Vachan Pillai Sannidhi had remained dysfunctional for decades. And the entire area was covered with thick bushes. The area behind Venugopalan, Parthasarathy and Thiru Kachi Nambi Sannidhis were covered with mud. The centuries-old granary on the western side of the temple was in a dilapidated state.
Restoration exercise
Close to 1,000 people including several engineers worked on the extensive restoration exercise for a period of 18 months in 2014-15. For one of the largest restoration initiatives at the temple in almost two centuries, no festival or religious activity was stopped during this period.
As part of the restoration, 60,000 tonnes of debris was removed from the temple complex.
The architectural beauty of the 1,000 pillar mandapam was brought back to its ancient glory and the path from Thayar Sannidhi was re-opened. The huge granary was restored. For the first time in several decades, Sri Pandaram and the 100-Pillar Mandapam wore a fresh look with the removal of temporary constructions that had come up. The over 40 sub-shrines, a large number of which had remained closed earlier, are now fully functional.
The most appealing place in the entire complex that has attracted the devotees’ attention is the one behind the shrines of Thondaradipodi Azhwar and Vittala Krishnan, at the Southern entrance of the temple. The clearance of debris has now revealed the base of these historical structures that had remained hidden for decades. The extensive wiring duct for electrical system across the temple complex has won praise from the Tirumala temple authorities who sent their team to understand the model.
Joint Commissioner of the temple Pon Jayaraman, who anchored the exercise within the temple, says that it was once in a lifetime opportunity for him to contribute to a great cause. Just being part of such a large and devotional restoration is a satisfying experience. And to top that with the UNESCO award is a big recognition for the temple and stands testimony to the entire team’s hard work and tireless effort to bring the temple back to its architectural glory.
The award from UNESCO testifies that it is also one of the best temple restoration exercises one has seen in recent times. UNESCO’s Jury hoped that the temple would share the restoration lessons to encourage other heritage conservation efforts, not just in India, but also throughout the Asia Pacific region.
And that was the ultimate commendation for this initiative that has now become a global role model for such temple restoration exercises.
Breath of fresh air
In his Tiruvoimozhi praise on the Thiruvananthapuram temple, Vaishnavite Saint poet Nammazhwar says that just sweeping the temple complex will undo all our karmas, such was the significance of keeping a temple clean.
Post the restoration exercise, the investment into the ‘Cleanliness Drive’ has gone up significantly with the Srirangam temple spending close to Rs. 1 crore last year on just the ‘cleanliness’ initiative within the complex. There are at least 100 bins for the collection of garbage with 120 people exclusively involved in the daily upkeep of the temple complex. Cleaning the floor, collecting the garbage and wastes, clearing the cobwebs and removing oil and turmeric stains from the walls and pillars have become a regular feature at the temple.
There is a breath of fresh air even during the major festivals with a number of new cleanliness initiatives. In January this year, a day after the Vaikunta Ekadasi Utsavam, when an estimated two lakh devotees visited the temple, the entire complex looked clean with no garbage found in any corner as a result of a proactive plan for the collection and disposal of wastes on an hourly basis including in the night.
A shot in the arm
The UNESCO award for Cultural Heritage Conservation of the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time for Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, Board of Trustees (CBT), Ranganathaswamy Temple.
This year marks the silver jubilee of his association with temple restoration activities. He began the work, way back in 1992-93 with the Rama temple in Padai Veedu, near Vellore. Venu Srinivasan’s vast experience in corporate management, social service, temple restoration and his capacity to manage conflicts and differences made him an ideal leader for the huge restoration exercise that was being planned in Srirangam. He was roped in as the CBT a few years ago with a specific mandate to make this the most comprehensive restoration of the Srirangam temple, whose architectural beauty had to be maintained and ASI norms followed. “Every activity we undertook had these parameters in focus to bring the iconic temple as close to its original glory as possible,” says Venu Srinivasan.
Team work
He compliments the entire team comprising the Board of Trustees, the then Commissioner of the HR & CE, the Archaeologists and the Joint Commissioner (Pon Jayaraman) of the temple for pulling this off in a record time of 18 months. “It was a massive collective effort and the pace of implementation was quite unbelievable,” he says.
His experience as the chief of a corporate auto major too has clearly helped in this large-scale restoration of the Srirangam temple. He believes that administrative principles applicable to organisations are relevant to this as well. Principles of Quality, Management, House Keeping, Time Keeping, Punctuality, Processes and Systems were applied to every aspect of this huge exercise.
According to Venu Srinivasan, the Nava Tirupati restoration initiative, which he undertook in the mid-1990s taught him an important and fundamental principle of how temple restoration activities should go hand in hand with social rehabilitation.
Venu Srinivasan considers the UNESCO award a matter of great pride for Tamil Nadu. “It gives a boost to the processes that were followed in the restoration,” he observes.
Looking back at the entire experience with a lot of humility, typical of the TVS family, he believes that this will serve as a model for any temple looking at a large restoration exercise in the future. What gives him the ultimate satisfaction, however, is the fact that devotees find the temple spick and span and are going back happy after the darshan.
Just History 