In an interview with Gomantak Times Digital, design and construction manager of Ayodhya’s Ram Temple, Girish Sahasrabhojanee, said he cut himself from the din of controversy surrounding the Ram temple to create an architectural marvel that can survive for thousands of years.
He spoke on the topic ‘Building of the Ram Janmbhoomi Temple’ at an event organised by the International Centre Goa (ICG) last Friday.
What was the brief around which you worked for the Ram Janmbhoomi Temple? What were the challenges in adhering to it?
There is a difference between your degree of involvement when you work as a paid employee of any organisation, and when you work voluntarily. As a paid employee, you try to work towards meeting your employer’s expectations and for your promotion. However, there is always a limit to the efforts you put in the job.
As a voluntary worker, you take the ownership of the megaproject; try to do as much as you can in whichever way you consider as necessary. And, wherever there is a possible shortcoming in the team’s output, you jump in and tackle it.
The Trust (Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra set up by the government for the construction and management of Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 2020) gave me full freedom to operate. Right from Day 1, my brief was self-imposed.
I made it a point not to keep any technical decision pending, discuss, share my viewpoints, understand others’ viewpoints, convince others in case of differences on sound engineering logic, avoid ego clashes, and be focused on the goal.
The only challenge was my physical capacity. The best way to deal with it was a regulated diet, regular practice of Yogasanas, Pranayam and meditation and adequate sleep.
How did you go about doing your homework for the project? How many temples did you visit? Did you take inspiration from any of them? What kind of specialisation does temple design and construction require? Do we have enough experts available for this kind and scale of job?
I have keenly studied a few ancient large traditional temples, viz Rameshvaram, Meenakshi, Kalahasti, Bruhadeshvara, Mahalakshmi (Kolhapur), Tirupati Balaji etc. What attracted me to these centuries-old temples is their structural framing system, sizing of elements, choice of material, joinery of elements, cementing material or the absence of it and so many other such interesting building practices.
I was, therefore, not at all a novice to temple structures. It is heartening to see that more and more engineering and architecture students are now getting interested in our (India’s) traditional skills.
Before this project, you worked on modern structures, did you have to unlearn a lot to do this job, or did you apply your past learning to the Ram Janmbhoomi Temple project?
I have always thoroughly enjoyed all the branches of mathematics and engineering subjects. The student in me is still very passionate about learning. The beauty of engineering is that once you thoroughly learn the concepts, there is nothing that remains unsolvable to you.
Let me cite a simple example; if a chair is designed to sustain a weight of 80 kg, it hardly matters whether the load on it is inflicted by a man sitting on it, or by a mother with her child, or a beautiful or an ugly individual.
In all cases, the chair will perform the same. Likewise, with a sound sense of engineering, one is equipped with analytical skills; whether they are applied to modern structures or traditional ones is just a matter of detailing and rational thinking.
What construction technique was used in the temple project? How did you decide what material to use for it and where did you source them? What is its longevity and how are you trying to achieve it?
The material selected for the mandir is essentially expected to last for more than a millennium. As we all know, there is no composite entity without internal friction, We decided to avoid tying the knot of steel with cement concrete.
Although they (steel and cement) make a versatile pair, they tend to split apart over a few decades. We chose granite and sandstone as the principal building materials, and both can last for thousands of years.
The sandstone came from Bharatpur, Rajasthan while the granite came from Bengaluru, Karnataka. The life of a stone structure depends, to a large extent, upon perfection in stone joinery. That is why I am not just in-charge of the design, but am also involved with the construction or the execution.
When is the project likely to be completed? What are your learnings from it?
The project, including the temple, parkota (rampart) and other allied structures will be completed by the end of 2025, which would be five years form the time the temple work commenced on January 1, 2021.
While working on this project, I had a realisation that our traditional temple structures were also based on a very sound understanding of the engineering principles that are taught to us today. However, they were expressed differently; and for sure, our ancestors were perfectionists.
