Pittsburgh _Patrika_Jan-2018

The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol, 23, No. 2, January 2018
ized” structures.
Cracks in plaster and between brick layers, snow freezing into sheets
of ice and inadequate drainage on flat roofs lead to leaks and structural
damage. In many temples, these are recurring themes that drain the
temple’s time, energy and resources.
Why do temple managements resist adapting temple structures’
basic design to the local weather patterns? The urge to find
The famous Guruvayoor Krishna Temple, Kerala
costly engineering solutions to retain the Indianized façades with “new
& improved” building material is irresistible. But Mother Nature always
wins if we do not learn to respect Her ways and adapt ourselves to Her
patterns. It is time to look at this with some Vedantic detachment.
Let us look at our personal lives as immigrants here. We take great
pride in our — and our children’s — accomplishments in education
and careers. Good. But also look at how we individually adapted our
personal lives along the way — in our food habits; in worship, prayers,
observing festivals in our homes; in walking away from proscribed taboos;
on divorce and remarriage; in the choices our children make in their life
partners. In all these, we have crossed every line that was a Lakshman
Rekha or taboo just forty years ago.
We have seamlessly adapted our personal lives in so many ways to fit
into the ever-changing lifestyles and resources around us. So why do we
resist the common-sense-based need to adapt the temple structures to the
entirely predictable local and regional weather patterns?
After all, Sthapatis, the traditional Hindu temple architects in India,
have understood these local realities through the centuries. That is how
and that is why many temples in India have survived for several hundreds
of years on very low maintenance, compared to temples built in North
America in the last 50 years.
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