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Author: Peggy Fletcher Stack (pstack@sltrib.com)
Publication: The Salt Lake Tribune
Date: September 2, 2005
URL: http://sltrib.com/faith/ci_2997222
The tower on a Hindu temple is designed to look like a mountain, reaching higher and higher toward the gods. It is covered with figures divine and devilish, meant to invoke enlightenment while warding off evil spirits. Perched on the peak of the tower installed this week on top of the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple in South Jordan is a lotus, symbolizing serenity. But the process of building the tower would hardly be called serene.
The tradition for this kind of temple was established by Chola kings in southern India between the 10th and 12th centuries. Each layer of the concrete pyramid has to be carefully stacked on another, held together by gravity. Stone sculptures are then lovingly carved by Indian artisans, after which the whole structure is overlaid with gold, brass or silver.
Now think about doing all that not in India's southern climes, but amid the often harsh and always changing seasons of Utah. Consider the cycles of freezing and thawing, water expansion, snow loads, wind shear and the ever-present danger of earthquakes. And don't forget about the demands of local zoning.
Those were among the issues confronting Selvam Rajavelu, of NJRA Architects in Salt Lake City, as he made plans to complete the Sri Ganesha tower.
So Rajavelu and the other Utah organizers came up with an ingenious idea: Instead of creating the figures out of stone or stucco first and then sheathing them in metal, the Utah tower would be carved directly in brass.
They quickly came up with a design for the 21-foot tower, sent it to expert artisans in India who meticulously chiseled out each figure and detail, and then shipped the 2,100-pound brass sheet in 189 separate parts to be reassembled on-site. They had to order 1,500 special nuts, screws and bolts to hold the brass together. The assembly instructions were written in Tamil, which had to be translated into English before the work could be completed.
Special delivery and trucking arrangements had to be made to get delivery of the odd-shaped items. Installers at South Jordan raced against time to get the job done for the Ganesha festival that begins Wednesday.
"This exquisite traditional work of art was designed with a distinctive modern concept that is a first of its kind in temple tower construction," says Rajavelu. "It was almost like the building blocks of a Lego set."
The Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple was consecrated in May 2003 and serves the needs of more than 350 Hindu families in the Salt Lake Valley as well as scores more who travel from neighboring states to worship and take part in the Hindu temple ceremonies. Work on the tower has been ongoing.
The tower is rich with Hindu mythology, says Neale Neelameggham, a temple trustee. It features eight figures of the elephant-headed Ganesh, several of which are riding a mouse, the god's favorite mode of transportation. It also has eight goblins, called "bhutas," to make sure no evil comes into temple.
This weekend, resident priests Satish Kumar and A.R. Krishnan will perform all prescribed Vedic religious ceremonies related to the consecration of a Hindu tower - purification ceremonies, blessings and prayers to guardian and nature deities, welcoming them to dwell on the tower.
After 28 days of special prayers and chanting, the priests will perform more rituals to protect and sanctify the tower and offer special prayers to the guardian deities. They will ceremoniously bathe the tower with sacred waters.
As he watched the tower come together piece by piece this week, Rajavelu reflected on the planning and on his trip to India last year to see the artisans at work. He was overwhelmed with pride and pleasure.
"I was feeling really happy," he says, "awestruck by the whole thing."
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