Archaeologists restore 11th century temples at Hottal

"The Department of Archaeology, along with Directorate of Archaeology and Museums and Tourism and Cultural Affairs department, was engaged for the last five years in rebuilding temples which were in shambles," a senior archaeology department official said.

"Loss of tensile strength, long time span and frequent earthquakes in the region were among the reasons for the deterioration of the temples located in Nanded district," Rahul Bhosle, assistant director, Aurangabad division, said.

The difficult task during restoration of the temples was in assembling the stacked architectural items as they had lost their identification numbers due to the long gap in carrying out the work, Bhosle, who also holds additional charge of Nanded division, said.

After sanction of Rs 1.20 crore by the 12th Finance Commission, work on conservation and restoration of the Siddheshwar and Mahadeva temples was allotted to a firm in 2007-08. However, the work could not be completed due to some reasons, Bhosle said.

The work resumed in April 2010. "The Siddheshwar Temple has been completely restored to its original form, while the work on Mahadeva Temple is in final stage of completion," he said.

Also, Rs 3.5 crore have been sanctioned by the 13th Finance Commission for the Nandi temple during the next financial year, Bhosle said.

The Nanded district administration has also come out with a development plan for the Hottal temples under the Mega Tourism Circuit project, he said. MORE