Renovation of historic temple runs aground

PUNE, Oct 13: The Pune Municipal Corporation has stayed the renovation of the historic Kasba Ganpati temple following the objections rais...

PUNE, Oct 13: The Pune Municipal Corporation has stayed the renovation of the historic Kasba Ganpati temple following the objections raised by the Heritage Committee.

The trustees of the temple, believed to have been constructed in early 17th century, had undertaken some renovation work two months back. They had changed the original canopy using cement while glazed tiles were used inside the temple in an attempt to make it more attractive. Several walls were also painted with oil-paint.

Narendra Dengle, a member of the committee, first noticed the renovation work and intimated city engineer Madhav Harihar, the ex-officio member of the committee. Harihar sent a team of civic officials in August to supervise the renovation work. Dengle in his letter had maintained that use of oil-paint, glazed tiles and cement had changed the look of the historic temple.

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The team in its report said that the renovation work was damaging the original structure and was against the norms laid down by the committee to preserve the structure. The PMC immediately asked the trustees to stop the work. It asked the trustees to seek prior permission before undertaking any work at the temple. The trustees maintained that they were not aware of the fact that temple had been listed by the committee till they received a letter from the PMC to stop the work.

The renovation work was undertaken after a devotee volunteered to bear the expenses. The committee members felt that the renovation work had changed the original structure of the temple. They have suggested that maintenance work should be undertaken scientifically and should match the original style.