Ancient Chola temple taken apart by Tamilnadu HRCE Dept.

Apr 06 2016 : The Times of India (Chennai) TIMES NEWS NETWORK   1,000-Year-Old Temple Built By Rajendra Chola-I Destroyed By The State  Government In Name Of Renovation A more than 1,000-year old temple built by Rajendra Chola-I in Thanjavur district has been pulled down by the government in the name of renovation, say heritage activists.  The archaeology department, meanwhile, says the temple has only been `dismantled' before it would be put together again.Rajendra Chola-I, was known as much for building temples as for extending his empire to the banks of the Ganga in the north and to Sri Lanka and Maldives in the south. One such small temple was Naganathaswamy in Manambadi village near Kumbakonam which has now virtually disappeared. The stone temple was built around 1016 CE, much before the king's masterpiece, the  Gangaikondan temple, was raised. The temple is one of the 88 protected monuments  in the state under the control of the state department of archaeology . A sculpture  in the Naganathaswamy temple, where the Chola king along with his family is seen  worshipping Lord Nataraja, signifies the consecration of the temple during his period. Temple Worshippers Society president T R Ramesh said the HR&CE department, which  took up the work, had not employed conservation experts.“The private contractor has  no knowledge or skill in preserving monuments.When we visited the spot, many pillars  were missing,“ he said. “The state does not have a conservation manual.“ The Madras high court last year banned largescale renovation and reconstruction inside ancient temples.The temple was earlier saved by activists and historians from the threat of demolition for a national  highways project in 2013. Epigraphist and historian Kudavayil M Balasubramaniam says the temple has sculptures depicting a story of an elephant and a spider that worships and protect a `sivalinga' from  leaves falling on it. “A sculpture shows the Cauvery as a woman holding a lotus.  The temple's flower garden was called Rajendra Cholan,“ he said. Former director of archeology R Nagaswamy said the temple and the deity were called  Sri Kailasamudiyar, while the village was called Ilachchikudi. The sculptures depict dance dramas conducted during festivals in the Tamil month of `Chithirai'. A top official from the state archaeology department said that a part of the temple had  collapsed forcing them to reconstruct. “We have our experts at the site. We have stopped work due to the interim court order  banning largescale renovation,“ the official said.