& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Mindless demolition of a rooftop temple

Durdana Ghias
An ornate temple atop an old building at Shanlchari Bazar is being mindlessly knocked down by its owner.
Locals say it fell prey to a land dispute with neighbours. But the owner of the temple claims he decided to tear it 3owh recently as’it had become risky.
The joint buildings of holdings 14 and 15 were once proud of this exquisite rooftop temple.
The temple was built atop the building of holding 15 and its entrance was on the roof of 14.
The face of the temple has now lost its piasterwork smoothing away all its decorative features.
The little temple sat on a pavilion on the roof. It had a front veranda with a bay of three arches. The middle arch was semi-circular flanked by two pointed arches. The top of the temple was ornate while it had battlements and a turret at one corner.
"This rooftop temple had been one of the significant features of Shankhari Bazar. It was one of its landmarks," said Taimur Islam, architect and conservation activist working to salvage the last remnants of Shankhari Bazar and other heritage sites in the city.
"Venetian influence was well manifested in the architecture of the temple. For an example, the pointed arches," he said.
"Corinthian capital, deco-
was in a dilapidated state.
"We pulled it down because it was in a very bad state and we wanted to shift the temple on to my roof. It contained idols of Radha-Krishna made of touchstone, which was brought by my grandfather a long time ago. So we decided to shift the temple £ for thb security of the idols1,’1 ®
"Besides, the whole building is listed as a risky structure by DCC," he added. •
He said he did not think about consulting anyone before knocking it down as the temple was a property of his family.
"It is our internal matter whether to keep the temple or not because it is the traditional property of the family," he said.
Locals of the area said owners of adjoining buildings wanted to erect a boundary between the buildings.
"Demolition of the temple was a community failure of the residents of the area," said an elderly local seeking anonymity.
"I know very well that the structure was a piece of heritage and a matter of pride for the area. But we could not save it because at the moment it seemed it was the best way to settle the dispute," he said.
Heritage admirers deplored the demolition saying it was like chopping off head because of headache.
"If ownership issues cannot be settled then we will lose more such precious sites to these types of trivial disputes in future," saidTaimur.
rated gabled motif on top of the parapet, projected springers or bottom stones of arches were important features of the temple," said Taimur.
The temple was on an elevated platform. It had a 15x15 feet worship room, he added.
"Decorated cornice and dentil mouldings features bfth® ItriiplN A 'dentil is one of a series of small rectangular blocks jutting out from a moulding or beneath a cornice. The two pointed arches on both sides were supported by pairs of engaged columns,” he said.
Series of arches is an important matter. There were three bays in each arcade, he added.
According to locals the reason behind going for such rooftop temple may be because of shortage of space downstairs.
"The whole structure of the building 14 is ornately decorated. Both 14 and 15 were redeveloped in the early 20th century. Before redevelopment the building had features from Mughal architecture. After the redevelopment the building has a mixture of Mughal and colonial architecture," saidTaimur.
Open sky courtyard at different floors is another aspect of the building 14, he added.
"Ionic capitals, double arch, extensive use of metals in the balustrade of the internal courtyard, wrought iron grilles are important features of the building," he said.
Owner of the building 14 Biswajit Datta Bhulu, said he tore down the temple because it