MANGALURU: Time-tested and traditional. That’s been the mantra for authorities in at least five temples across Dakshina Kannada district. When many of the structures outlived their structural life and had to be renovated, the temple administrations stuck to the old, traditional materials and mode of architecture.
Many of these temples belong to Shaiva and Vaishanava sects. These include Puttur Mahalingeshwara temple, Vitla Panchalingeshwara temple, Venkataramana temple or ’Padu Tirupati’ in Karkala in Udupi, Venkataramana temple on Car Street and Suryanaryana temple, both in Mangaluru.
Many smaller temples are undergoing structural strengthening and renovation but these five temples have been rebuilt to perfection. The architects used red laterite stones, clay roofing tiles, teak wooden rafters and beams, rosewood pillars, jack wood doors covered with silver cladding and granite flooring.
These structures do not use cement to build the walls. Each laterite stone, 12X6 inches in dimension, is used for bringing up the walls. The sheer weight of walls holds the structures intact for centuries. These are fixed into each other, eliminating the need for steel nails, clamps and fasteners.
Typical of Tuluva style
This kind of structural strength using natural materials is special to Dakshina Kannada. The Tuluva temple style is found only in south of western coast and north of Kerala (Malabar) and executed by traditional master masons, carpenters and silver masters. Fortunately their tribes have started growing again due to the enormous work being generated.
The temple architecture of the Tuluva region has unique shading features, as the region is exposed to bright sunlight and heavy rains for nearly five months. The sloping roofs cover the walls to keep away the water from seeping into the uncemented wall which is the reason why the walls hold for centuries. The roofs are clad with copper sheets painted with natural reddish pigments which keeps the copper sheets from blackening. “The Tuluva temple uses only locally available material like jack, teak and red laterite stones.
But in recent years, to make the temples hygienic they use polished granite for the flooring of a particular colour, usually reddish or ruby. Even silver and copper are chosen and smeltered by the local silver masters and copper workers to purify it. This ensures that every devotee gets full peace of mind,” says temple architecture specialist Deviprasad.
Few improvisations though have been made too. For instance, the doors have been made wider. The sanctum sanctorum has been elevated to give devotees unhindered glimpse of the idol. The temples that have been resurrected look as if they they have emerged from the ground,” added Deviprasad.
Though the Archeological Survey of India and the Indian National Trust for Culture and Heritage are credited for using only local material, the master temple craftsmen have been doing it for years, said Prof. Viveka Rai, a connoisseur of art and theatre of Dakshina Kannada.