Sundarnarayan Temple (Nashik)

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The chemology branch of the Archaeological Survey of India, Aurangabad Circle, has halted the chemical conservation of the Sundarnarayan temple in Panchavati, Nashik, after cracks in the stones of the temple were noticed. The department has now sought permission to carry out structural conservation of the temple.

The ASI had commenced with the chemical conservation of five state-protected monuments in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar — Sundarnarayan Temple, Nilkantheshwar Temple, Tribhuvaneshwar Temple, Kushawarth and Kedareshwar Temple, Ballaleshwar Temple and Indraleshwar Temple. The ASI has finished with the chemical conservation of all the temples except Sundarnarayan. "We finished with the cleaning of Sundarnarayan temple near Panchavati. There were lots of shoots that had to be removed from the roots, which was a difficult task. We realised that simplly removing the vegetation and undertaking chemical conservation was not sufficient as there were cracks in the stones and these could be dangerous. That is why we have halted the work," said RN Singh, head of the ASI's chemology department,
"We need to do the structural conservation of the temple as the stones have cracks in them and may loosen or give away in a couple of years. We cannot take the risk. We had written about the need to do structural conservation to the district collector and the state archaeological department, Nashik branch, around one-and-a-half years back,"