Some thoughts on Conservation of temple heritage of Hassan District
Subhas Chandra Basu

Hassan district has an enormous treasure of historic temples in various state of survival. The better identified monuments with national and international importance are protected under ASI and state department of Archaeology. But a large number of small and medium size less ornamental historic shrines facing serious deterioration. As the concern government departments are not willing to extend their range of liabilities/ responsibility. Local panchyat, NGO’s and interested citizen should come forward to initiate a local conservation movement. Dharmasthala Manjunatha Devasthana Trust already created some good examples of restoration of historic temples in the district (Keerthinarayana temple in Heragu, Janardhana in Anekere (Pic.2) and Eswara in Malali).

In an effort to create some general awareness about conservation among fellow citizen, this article will discuss about the idea of architectural conservation and causes of decay with a special reference to our district heritage temples.

‘Conservation is an action taken to prevent decay.’ It is an essential action to preserve any historic artifact or structure. But to initiate any action it is very important to understand the local environmental context, type and extent of decay and many other relevant details. Another most important factor to be highlighted here is the ‘Ethics of Conservation.’ It’s a serious subject with certain debatable issues. We shall touch upon only the most essential ones: a) make a good documentation before initiating any direct intervention on the structure, b) historic evidence must not be destroyed, falsified or removed, c) make any intervention as minimum as necessary and d) with sincere most respect for the aesthetic, historical and physical integrity of cultural property. A few restoration efforts in recent past show a total ignorance towards the above mention points. (Examples Eswara temple at Mudigere( Pic.1) and Yalevare under reconstruction)



“Conservation is, therefore, primarily a process which leads to the prolongation of the life of cultural property for its utilization for now and in future”.(Feilden)

Causes of Decay

"… Cultural property deteriorates and is ultimately destroyed through attack by natural and human agents acting upon the various weakness inherent in the component materials of the object or structure”—Feilden.

Above quote has raised three important issues regarding deterioration of historic structures.

1. Inherent weakness and strength in the structural design and materials.

2. Possible natural agents of deterioration.

3. Possible human agents of deterioration.

Strength of Hoysala architecture was not in their structure but in artistic delineation on the body, and the inherent weakness originates there. The main problem lies with the two leaf wall construction without good bonding elements. The outer leaf here composed of ornamental sculptures, kept in position by dead weight at the roof level. This mortar-less stone work vertically kept in position by small tong & groove joint and horizontally by the use of metal clamp. But this was not adequate enough to take care of movements due to settlement or lateral loading, resulting often in bulging of outer leaf of the wall. Example of later addition of external buttress (Pic.3) can be found in many historic structures here to check the same.

Soap stone used predominantly in the Hoysala construction are relatively weaker in dealing with mechanical impact load or friction. Damages on surface ornaments and figures illustrate the same.

Rain is the main climatic force that causes most of the problems to the heritage structures here. Moisture movements through the roof with weathered or cracked weather proofing, leading to dampness in side are one of them. Dust and moisture collected in the crevices of the temples often helped the growth of trees and plants on the body of the structure.

Most glaring cause of decay of local temples is due to human agents. Neglect and ignorance are the prime cause. Minor damages to idol often led to totally abandoning a temple of historic value. Historic evidences of arson on various temples in this region are very obvious, but the continued vandalism is still a serious threat from some tourists and local miscreants.

Conclusion:

We have reached a stage when direct intervention for physical restoration is a necessity for a good number of temples. And majority of them demand regular maintenance and care—the community should be sensitized to do so.

Quality tourism should help the local economy and can generate support in mobilizing maintenance fund. But the importance of these heritage sites should be realized in its socio-cultural strength. In a contemporary scenario, when we are losing faith in our culture and tradition both in our rural and urban life, redefining our iconic heritage has its metaphoric value in an efforts towards rejuvenation of our culture.

Plenty of archaeological and architectural thesis and books has been published nationally and internationally on Hassan and its architectural heritage, but those scholarly works has not touched the local population who live intimately with the heritage. So instead of a scholarly attempt of documentation and publication, we need to initiate direct dialogue with local youth and some simple action towards conservation.



Ref: Bernard M Feilden, Conservation of Historic Buildings, Butterworth- Heinemann Ltd, 1994.
Bernard M Feilden, Guideline for Conservation: A Technical Manual, INTACH, NewDelhi, 1989.