KOZHIKODE: Six-hundred-year-old Kunnamangalam Bhagawati temple’s ‘karnikara mandapam’ has been selected for Unesco’s Asia Pacific Award for cultural heritage conservation. The Kunnamangalam Bhagawati Temple, situated in Naduvannur in northern Kozhikode, got special recognition for sustainable development for its transformative heritage practices for following a sustainable method for restoring the ‘karnikara mandapam’ in front of the temple.
In March 2023, a group of young architects and volunteers under the Archival and Research Project (ARPO) started the renovation works at the temple. “When our team found the temple in 2022, the structure of the Bhadrakali temple was in ruins. It was on the verge of collapse,” said Shruthin Lal, executive director of ARPO.
The ‘karnikara mandapam,’ in its original state, was made entirely with 16 wooden pillars made of teak. “When we approached the temple committee for the restoration, they were toying with the idea of replacing the mandapam with a concrete structure.
So ARPO decided to intervene in the project and facilitated 1/3 of the total expense of the renovation, only with one condition that the whole restoration process should be done sustainably,” said Shruthin.
Pipal Haveli in Punjab and Sikami Chhen in Kathmandu, Nepal, are the other winners in the category. As per Unesco, the award winners were selected according to their demonstration of success among various conservation criteria, such as their articulation of the spirit of place, their technical achievement, their appropriate use or adaptation, their engagement with the local community and their contribution towards enhancing the sustainability of the surrounding environment and beyond.