Tamil Temple Towns: Conservation and Contestation

The project arises from pressing issues of contested heritage in the great, living temple complexes at the heart of rapidly growing cities in Tamil Nadu. It examines two distinct temple cities of Tamil Nadu, Madurai and Kumbakonam, to address current concerns over the ways in which some functioning temples are being restored. Such concerns have recently led to court cases, and the involvement of UNESCO in an attempt to find ways to create appropriate conservation guidelines acceptable to different stakeholders. These must take into account the prescriptions of ancient Sanskrit ritual and architectural treatises, still much revered though not sufficiently understood. The project therefore aims to provide an authoritative body of research to inform inclusive and sustainable guidelines for heritage conservation and management in the temple cities. It will provide a well-researched history of the architecture, urban settings, and phases of renewal of the representative temple structures, and articulate the different narratives and perceptions about these sites. The nature of recent restorations will be ascertained and evaluated. Sanskrit texts will be studied for an overview of their relevant instructions, and to show how their theoretical concepts relate to the actual practice of temple design and conservation. Digital models will be created to encapsulate the research findings, to provide data for architectural analysis, and as a tool to elicit and express the multiple viewpoints of the community and stakeholders. The findings, as a basis for the future guidelines, will be presented in a report, which will appear on the project website along with the models. Other outcomes will include a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal.

The project arises from pressing issues in the great, living temple complexes at the heart of rapidly growing cities in Tamil Nadu. These are at once historic architectural treasures, thriving places of worship, ritual and festivals, centres for varied branches of culture, and hubs for the economy, tourism and pilgrimage. Alarmed by a spate of insensitive restorations, court cases brought by devotees in the Madras High Court led to its instructed UNESCO in 2016 to evaluate the conservation activity taking place with view to establishing appropriate guidelines. The overall aim of the project is to inform such guidelines, in order to achieve the desired impact on conservation practices in temple complexes throughout the state. The project therefore aims to have impact beyond academia by providing an authoritative body of research to inform inclusive and sustainable guidelines for heritage conservation and management in the temple cities. The stakeholders that are envisaged as benefitting from the research project include official bodies and institutions, including UNESCO, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the state of Tamil Nadu's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department. The project and its dissemination will bring professional conservation architects and heritage practitioners into dialogue with traditional ritual and architecture experts (sthapatis and acharyas) in order to develop culturally-sensitive principles and practices for the conservation of the great temples of south India.