Abathsahayeswarar temple chosen for UNESCO award for conservation-OxBig News Network

The 1,300-year-old Abathsahayeshwarar Temple in Thukkatchi in Thanjavur district has been chosen by UNESCO to receive the Award of Distinction – 2023 for having been conserved keeping its heritage intact. The temple, which is believed to have been constructed by Kings Vikrama Chola and Kulothunga Chola, is said to have had five prakarams previously.

Temple priest K. Ramkumar Gurukkal said that the temple had several shrines for deities, including Soundaryanayaki Ambal, Ashtabhuja Durga Parameshwari, Aadhi Sarabeshwarar, Pillayar, Murugan, Chandikeswarar, two Bhairavars, two Suryas and two Naagar.

“The village was known as Vikrama Chozheeswaram and Kulothunga Chola Nallur. It was Kulothunga who was the first to establish an idol for Sarabeshwarar, which is why this deity is called Aadhi Sarabeshwarar,” he explained.

Official sources in the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department said that the award was announced on Friday as part of UNESCO Asia – Pacific Awards for cultural heritage conservation.

“The temple was in a bad shape. We have restored two prakarams by removing plants, trees, ensured strength of structures and painted gopurams. Nobody knew when the last kumbhabhishekam was conducted. We performed the consecration after the restoration in September 2023,” explained an official.

“The revival of the Abathsahayeshwarar Temple in Tamil Nadu has breathed new life to a once abandoned religious site, employing an interdisciplinary methodology which connects modern conservation science with traditional construction practices. In this spirit, engineering expertise and the knowhow of Hindu temple builders, sthapathi, were applied in structural conservation and renewal of decorative works in keeping with vernacular artisanal traditions.

The pedagogical aspiration of the project in establishing guidelines for the restoration of historic living Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu is praiseworthy. Significant support from both the government and devotees has enabled the continuity of this historic temple in a modern-day devotional context,” said UNESCO in a document.

Minister for HR&CE P K. Sekarbabu said the Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who was particularly interested in conserving heritage and ancient temples, said that he had granted a subsidy of ₹100 crore per year to restore and renovated temples over 1000 years old.

“More such temples have been identified and work is under way to renovate these without making any changes to the basic characteristics,” he said.