CHENNAI: The towering Raja Gopuram of Sri Uthira Ranganathar Temple, draped in pale green protective sheets, slowly starts emerging from the horizon. Zoom in, the dullness of the sheet is in stark contrast with the steady flow of devotees at the religious institution in Pallikonda, some 30 km away from Vellore city, that has a tale of more than a thousand years to tell.
The enthusiasm around is quite palpable. From the flower vendor on the street to the devotees, all have just one question: “When will the Kumbhabhishekam (consecration ceremony) take place?” Quick came the reply from J Hethirajan, the chief priest at the temple for over a decade: “In a few months after the restoration works.” As Kumbhabhishekam is held once in every 12 years, and the next one is due, anticipation among devotees is high, he tells TNIE.
Sri Uthira Ranganathar Temple is just one among the 714 temples identified as more than 1,000 years old based on stone inscriptions, architectural styles, and the hymns composed by saints. The number could soon reach 850, say HR&CE department officials.
The initiative was announced in the state Assembly by HR&CE Minister PK Sekarbabu on May 4, 2022, and the state government granted Rs 100 crore to restore the first 80 temples.
That was just the beginning, as the state would allocate Rs 425 crore from 2022-23 to 2025-26. As many as 352 ancient temples have been taken up for restoration at a cost of Rs 571.55 crore, including donations and temple funds. Consecration has been completed for 71 temples, while work is still going on at 164 temples.
Terming the ambitious project of restoring the 1000-year-old temples special, Sekarbabu stresses the work is being carried out meticulously by the DMK government led by Chief Minister MK Stalin by following all the norms to protect the state’s cultural heritage.
The Abathsahayeshwarar Temple in Thukkachi village near Kumbakonam stands as a testament to the initiative’s success. After the 1,300-year-old temple was renovated at Rs 5 crore and consecrated on September 3, 2023, UNESCO recognised Thanjavur’s efforts to restore the temple without altering its external appearance, and has selected it for the 2024 Award of Distinction.
The scale of achievement becomes clearer when one understands what makes these renovations challenging. The conservation manual prepared by the HR&CE department makes a key distinction that guides its approach: unlike archaeological monuments, these temples are ‘living heritage’ — structures in continuous religious use for centuries. This requires balancing conservation with active worship, necessitating consultation with agama experts, silpa shastra specialists, and local communities along with conservation engineers.
S Rajavelu, an archaeologist of the state-level expert panel, explains, “Tamil Nadu has mostly ‘living temples’, though there are many heritage monuments.”
Understanding the age and architectural evolution of the structures is crucial for appropriate strategies. Rajavelu traced the state’s temple architectural evolution: During the Sangam era, temples were constructed with perishable materials like brick, lime, stucco and wood.
Kudaivarai (rock-cut) temples emerged during the Pallava period, and the people of those times later built structural free-standing temples. The Cholas and Pandyas further advanced these with tall vimanas and gopurams.
The temples contain approximately 60,000 inscriptions of historical value, providing information about construction dates, builders, donations received, and even records of royal military campaigns.
Determining precise age involves multiple methods. Stone inscriptions within temples provide direct evidence. The existence of temples for 1,000 years or more is also confirmed through the devotional hymns written by saints. Architectural style identifies whether a temple follows Chola, Pallava, or Pandya traditions.
The most reliable source is the Jagathi inscription — an epigraph carved on a stone’s base recording royal grants, endowments, or construction details. The king’s date mentioned in the inscription reveals the age of a temple.
To ensure consistent quality across this vast undertaking, the department operates through a rigorous two-tier expert committee system. Tamil Nadu, home to over 46,000 hindu temples, has 20 HR&CE regions covering all 38 districts, with each region having its own committee comprising conservation experts, structural engineers, archaeologists and sthapathis.
K Jayaraman, regional sthapathi with the HR&CE department, explained the process: An archaeologist first visits the temple, determines its period, and collects records of past renovation works based on the inscriptions and other evidence. The regional sthapathi then examines the temple. Temple trustees, with reports from both experts, apply for renovation to the joint commissioner at the regional level.
The committee then sends recommendations to the state-level committee for its final nod. What once took two months has been expedited since the DMK government introduced an integrated temple management system that enabled approvals online.
The renovation guidelines are uncompromising on certain principles. Conservation manuals prohibit cement mortar. Similarly, sandblasting was banned about 15 years ago.
For damaged idols, Agama Sastras dictate they must not be used for worship and should be replaced by following the prescribed rules. For old or fragile idols, Thailakaappu — an oil anointing and sealing ritual using only natural, non-corrosive ingredients — renews spiritual potency. For herbal-material idols facing erosion, abhishekam frequency is reduced and offering weight minimised.
The skilled artisans are carrying out Rs 2.96 crore restoration work at Sri Uthira Ranganathar Temple with quiet precision. While one group is painting a smaller tower in bright green and yellow, another is preparing a traditional mixture of limestone, kadukkai and jaggery for applying the mix between the ancient karungal blocks of the temple walls.
The work is not easy, as a worker washing the roof of the temple says it takes nearly 15 minutes to clean one slab of three-and-a-half ft length.
Stapathi T Rathinam, who has been involved in temple restoration for 16 years and in charge of conservation works at the temple, points out, “One of the most challenging tasks is replacing damaged pillars without sculptures.
Sculpted pillars are only cleaned, never replaced. To remove a damaged pillar, we support the entire mandapam with iron rods, remove the lime mix from the top and bottom, place the new pillar and then reapply the mix. The process takes seven days. We have to be extremely careful, as even a small error could affect the stability of the whole structure.” he adds.
(With inputs from Dheepthi OJ @ Vellore)