Last monsoon, visitors to the Ganesha temple in Rajakilpakkam in the southern suburbs were often inconvenienced as water freely entered the structure.
But this year, thanks to construction technology, the temple has ‘risen’ with the outer walls and roof jacked up and the height of the foundation increased.
“Due to regular re-laying, the height of the road had gone up and the temple ended up being on a lower level. Though the temple was constructed in 1936, the structure was quite strong and we did not want to demolish it,” said T. Ramamoorthy, managing trustee, Sri Selva Vinayagar Temple Trust.
“The trust was on the look-out for methods by which the building could be saved and we found TDBD Engineering Works Pvt Ltd. that had worked on several similar structures,” he said.
The company dug up both sides of the building and increased the height by four feet. The building was 15 feet tall and is an 8ft x 8ft structure.
“We calculate the weight of the structure by measuring dimensions and decide on the number of jacks required. It took us 15 days to jack up the building,” said Gurdeep Kumar, Chief Engineer of the company.
“We moved the Ganesha idol to another place and regular pujas are being carried out regularly. Now, the flooring and steps have to be constructed,” added Mr. Ramamoorthy.
