Vrindavan, 2016.05.17 (VT): Work on the foundation of the 213 meter tall Vrindavan Chandrodaya temple, which will dominate the skyline in Vrindavan, is progressing nicely, according to project director Suvyakta Narasingha Das.
The temple, which was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee in November 2014, will stand on 511 pillars, giving support to the structure. The radius of each pillar will be one meter and dug to a depth of 55 meters.
“At this point in the construction, more than a hundred pillars have been dug into the earth and the foundation work will hopefully be completed by the year end, at a cost of Rs 80 crore. We are aiming at having the temple completed by 2020,” he said.
Suvyakta Narasingha Das said that the foundation pillars were designed after intense geotechnical studies and expert advice. “As the ground soil was soft, it was decided to extend the depth of the foundation pillars up to 55 meters. By way of comparison, the depth of these pillars is slightly more than at India Gate (42 meters) but less than Qutub Minar at 73 meters. The temple will be three times the height of Qutub Minar, but because of modern methods and technical advances, they do not need to be quite as deep.”
Top quality rustproof galvanised steel and strong concrete are being used for the construction of the temple so that it will be from damage of any kind for 500 years.
The pillars have been designed in such a way that each one can safely withstand at least 1,000 tonnes of weight but its real capacity would be to bear 1,800 tonnes.
Suvyakta Narasingha Das added that at the time of designing the temple, special emphasis was laid on making it resistant to strong earthquakes, storms or cyclones. IIT Roorkee has conducted a seismic study of the surrounding area in Braj. The strongest quake ever in Mathura occurred in the year 1803 and measured 6.8 on the Richter scale.
The Krishna temple will be able to overcome the tremors twice as strong as the Mathura quake and would also be able to deal with typhoon or thunderstorms with wind speeds of 200 kms/hr or more, which was the strength of Hudhud cyclone which wreaked havoc in Andhra Pradesh and much of eastern India in 2014. The highest recorded speed of that storm was 260 km/hr, but this was on the coast. So far inland no storm will be able to attain such speeds.
According to the project director, the temple tower will be able to withstand wind gusts of up to 226 kms/hr. “The vagaries of nature will not be able to cast their spell on the temple, such will be its construction,” he said.
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