Amid Maoist threat, ASI restoring 'mini Khajuraho'

Gadchiroli in Maharashtra often makes headlines for the wrong reasons. Being part of the infamous ‘Red Corridor’, it is mostly known for Maoist activity. But unknown to many, it has a group of ancient temples that is variously known as the ‘mini Khajuraho’ or ‘Khajuraho of Vidarbha’. And for the past two years, these are being restored by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Built between the 9th and 12th centuries, the Markandeshwar group of temples may have had up to 24 different temples. Today, the ruins of about 18 can be seen. The group gets its name from the main temple dedicated to Lord Shiva called Markandeshwar or Markandadeo temple, which lies in Markanda village on the banks of the Wainganga river . It falls in the Chamorshi tehsil of Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. It is this temple that is being conserved since 2017.

“It sustained damage from lightning twice in the last century—in the 1960s and 1980s. Some local restoration was done after that, but it couldn’t prevent water seepage. In 2015, we began the process of documenting the architectural elements and broken fragments lying around,” said I H Hashmi, superintending archaeologist of ASI Nagpur circle.

In fact, the earliest documentation made by General Sir Alexander Cunningham of ASI of the temple in the 19th century stated that the shikhara of the main temple and mahamandapa had been struck by lightning 200 years ago, which had disfigured the monument. The local Gond ruler did carry out some repairs, but these were not adequate from the point of view of conservation.

More than a century after Cunningham’s documentation, and with two more lightning strikes in the 20th century, sorting out the temple fragments and putting them back together was quite a headache. But that wasn’t the only problem that ASI encountered. “We realised that the local artisans no longer knew how to work on stone. So, we had to contact and bring stone craftsmen from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan ,” Hashmi said.

Work began in earnest in 2017. Stone fragments were dismantled and rearranged using the traditional resin and lime mortar. The quarry from where the temple stones came originally was identified and stone from there quarried again. All that work coupled with the extreme heat was quite a challenge. But more than the elements, it was the Maoists who posed a bigger challenge. “That was a big problem. We would have to start work very early in the morning and leave the site by late afternoon; it wasn’t safe after that. The village is still safe, but the forests beyond are not. An ASI team was once stopped by Maoists, but they let them go after questioning. So, fear looms,” Hashmi said.