A pilot project to renovate the ramparts surrounding the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam at the junction of Uthira Street has been completed restoring the walls to its ancient grandeur. The temple noted for saptha prakaram is separated by ramparts built by various dynasties.
Over the years, the boulders have been weakened by the onslaught of elements and started giving away causing panic among residents. The growth of vegetation, including neem trees, on the ramparts has affected its strength.
The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department took the initiative of restoring the structure on a pilot basis across a length of 50 metres at the junction of Uthira Street and Chithra Street. Old stones and damaged boulders were removed and replaced with new ones without affecting the strength of the structure.
The work taken up last year has been completed despite several hurdles, including dearth of space for executing the works. Stones brought from Pudukottai were chiselled and cut suitably for replacing the old and damaged boulders.
The concrete walls run to a length of 32,590 feet or 9,934 metres across saptha prakaram bordering several residential localities, says a report prepared by the Tiruchirappalli City Corporation for providing drainage channels between the rampart and the residences.
The total width of the space available is only six feet and half the space is occupied by drainage channels .
The workers have to squeeze through the space for bringing the boulders through small carts. Even the cutting and chiselling of new stones could be done only at a distance of about 200 metres from the pilot project area on the Chithra Street.
The work has been executed after analysing the nature of the stones and the strategy to be adopted for renovating the ancient structure.
Binding material such as limestone, gallnut, and jaggery have been used on the lines of the original material to restore the strength of the grandiose structure.
T.Jayaraman, Joint Commissioner of the temple, said the work had been executed without compromising on quality.
