MoU signed for scientific repair of Simhachalam temple’s roof to prevent water leakage

Simhachalam temple EO V. Trinadha Rao (left) and M/s Lord Venkateswara Charitable and Religious Trust representative Vishal Limkar exchange M o U copies for scientific repair of the temple roof as MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao (centre) looks on in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: BY ARRANGEMENT

The first step in preventing water leakage from the roof of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam was taken on Tuesday, with the exchange of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the temple officials and M/s Lord Venkateswara Charitable and Religious Trust, in the presence of Bheemunipatnam MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao.

The temple was constructed during the 11th century AD. Rainwater is seeping through the roof of the temple at some places. Though the roof was repaired in the past, the problem has been recurring. M/s Lord Venkateswara Charitable and Religious Trust, Pune, which has previous experience in the scientific restoration of ancient temples and heritage structures, has come forward to take up the work with its own funds. Apart from the temple roof, the Trust would also repair the roof of the old Kalyana Mandapam and the ‘nivedhanashala’ at the temple. The trust has taken up scientific restoration of the roof of Sri Kalahasti temple, in Tirupati district, the works of which are nearing completion.

The organisation has now decided to take up restoration projects at Srisailam and Simhachalam temples. The work at Simhachalam temple would begin first and was planned for completion in nine months. The Commissioner of Endowments had directed that the works should be taken up under the guidance of Tirupati IIT and the Archaeology Department.

The project is being taken up at an estimated cost of ₹4 crore. The Trust representatives told the MLA that they would use traditional materials for repair of the roof.

“The cement concrete layer, used about two decades for repair of the roof, will be removed and lime concrete and natural clay tiles will be used. Highly skilled workers, who have been handling lime concrete works, from Agra (U.P.), Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pune (Maharashtra) will be utilised for the work,” KM Reddy, Director (Epigraphy), Archaeological Survey of India, said.

Temple Executive Officer V. Trinadha Rao, Trust project consultant Romail Singh, temple Executive Engineer Srinivasa Raju and corporator P.V. Narasimham were present.