Chennai: ‘Using stucco to restore temple art like painting over Mona Lisa’

Several years ago, the sandstone sculptures of Shiva as Gangadhara and Ravana lifting the Kailasa on the interior walls of the Matangesvara temple in Kancheepuram were whitewashed in the name of restoration. Now, these ruined Pallava sculptures are set to be covered with stucco, a technique heritage experts say, will destroy the natural beauty of the ancient art as well as the architectural marvel that is the Shiva temple, believed to have been built by the Pallavas in the 9th century AD.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which maintains the temple, is going ahead with the restoration using stucco — a plaster used for coating wall surfaces and also for creating designs and decorations. The plan, say heritage experts, was prepared without proper consultation. Many want to stop the team which used the same ‘treatment’ at the nearby Mukteswara temple.

“The original sculptures will now be covered with a contractor's stucco sculpture. This happened in the Mukteswara temple recently and at the Kailasanatha and Mrityunjaeswarar temples in Kancheepuram several years ago. It is like painting over the Mona Lisa or Last Supper with water-colours,” said Chennai-based heritage expert R Gopu.

The Matangesvara templere is among the eight Pallava temples in Kancheepuram in original sandstone. “What is remarkable is that in these temples the lower structure, walls and superstructure (vimanam) are of sandstone. Going by what happened at Mukteswara temple, I think the same will happen in the Matangesvara temple,” he said.

The restoration team said it was going ahead because the cracks on the walls could lead to the temple’s collapse if not arrested now. Besides, the sand-stone used to construct the temple is of soft nature unlike the ones used in the shore temple in Mamallapuram. “There is no problem using the stucco on the pointers of the edges where the cracks are found. The panels are great pieces of art, and if stucco is used without proper consultation, it will destroy them,” said R Vishwanathan, who teaches painting to the students of department of visual communication at Chennai’s National Science & Arts College.

Reach out to Top Architects near you and get free quotes