Stalin flags UNESCO report, raps government for spoiling temple architecture

Referring to a 300-page interim UNESCO report tabled in the Madras High Court in a related case filed by historians, Stalin, in a statement said that the state government, which should support the DMK and others in protecting Keezhadi archeological site, instead, was destroying Tamil culture by destroying ancient temples under its control.

In its report, UNESCO which had inspected ten temples in the state, including Madurai Meenakshi Amman, Srirangam Ranganathar, Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleswarar and Kancheepuram Kamatchi Amman and Kumbakonam temples, had informed the court that the state HR and CE department did not have either proper guideline, blue prints, project report or experts to guide them in temple restoration.

The report also stated that the department had not consulted sculptors or sthapathis (traditional sculptors specializing in temple architecture) while undertaking restoration at historically significant centuries old temples in the estate.

Alleging that invaluable ancient sculptures and statues were destroyed in the name of restoration by the department, Stalin said the report specifically points to the case of 1000-year-old Naganathasamy temple at Manampatti village in Thanjavur, which was maintained by Raja Raja Chola, where restoration works done by the HR & CE department had completely destroyed any trace of history in the temple.

Referring to various successful temple restoration works completed during the DMK tenure, including the millennium anniversary of Raja Raja Cholan’s Thanjavur big temple, the Leader of Opposition said the administration of the state was such that even an international body had found faults in it.