Salient Features of the Project

Name & Location: Temple in Stone and Light, Barmer, Rajasthan

Cost of Project: Rs. 2crore (Including land development and landscaping cost of entire site)

Site Area: 4360sqm Built-up area: 138 sqm

Description of Project: The project was an opportunity to explore and establish contemporary interpretations of traditional typologies and building techniques.  The project was aimed to cater the local community and employees of the industrial township in the village of Bhadresh. With prominent industrial structures as a backdrop, the brief was to evolve a form intended as a contemporary interpretation of the traditional temple; familiar and exciting at the same time. 

Located in the culturally rich area of Rajasthan, the contextual response to the region’s architecture rendered a design which sought to push the boundaries of modern temple architecture without compromising on the symbolic aspects of temple design. The temple connects with the community through representation of the local culture, workmanship and heritage. As a place of worship, it provides a deeper connection by redefining spaces of spiritual refuge in India.

The decision to use stone masonry was an attempt to pay homage to the region’s building style and yet provide novelty in a temple of that region. Hence, though the region has traditional temples of stone, the Temple in Stone and Light would add value by bringing a new design and aesthetic to the region. The legacy of temples is taken forward by retaining the symbolic aspects and expanding the scope of temple design in the region.

The native flora was taken into account and landscaping was done envisioning the temple nestled in dense vegetation. Due to the reservoir for the power plant in the vicinity, the area has a very high water table, unusual in the desert. Though still saplings, the landscape has already started to create a local ecosystem. Since it is intended for the local people, the use of the temple was considered to be the most during the tolerable temperatures of mornings and evenings. Thus the design, along with the landscaping, provides spaces for individuals and families instead of built canopied areas for large gatherings.

Materials of Construction Details: The traditional Indian temple is strongly associated with stone – a testimony to the material’s beauty, strength and timelessness. The availability of resources such as excellent quality of stone and depth of knowledge of skilled traditional craftsmanship which we wanted to utilize, led to the consideration of stone as the only material to use. Considering the setting of the temple in the wonderfully stark and alive canvas of the Thar Desert, the primary building material was the yellow, locally available Jaisalmer sandstone. The yellow sandstone gives the temple an appearance of having risen from the surrounding sands. Instead of hiding the details of structural construction, we decided to make them an integral part the temple aesthetic. The use of using stone structure is intended to achieve beauty not through ornamentation but through usage of stone in its pure form.

The main innovation is in the shikhar of the temple which is supported by solid dressed stone masonry. Rather than a solid block, the individual components of the shikhar of the temple are offset from each other using interlocking stone blocks with epoxy binder. The slabs in the shikhar with their interlocking blocks had to be designed in a manner that the structural stability was achieved and that symmetry was retained when the structure was strongly visible during the night.  The stone slabs are held at their joints by steel plates and studs.

The massive stone masonry walls are designed to hold the stone shikhar. The placing of the blocks and workmanship are such that one sees only hairline joints between the blocks. Each massive stone component had to be placed precisely in place to balance the various requirements. As the stone was used for structural purposes and not just decorative, the density of the stone was specified and these were specially sourced to meet the requirements. The pure compression structure is revealed through each course and component that forms the superstructure. Low operational costs were achieved through usage of locally available stone and by employing local skilled labour.

Heaviness of stone was to be balanced with lightness. And it was done through introduction of light. Stone is carved out to create porosity for natural light to get in, while retaining its solidity as a volume. LED lighting was used to transform the structure in the night-time such that it appears as a glittering lantern in the stark desert landscape.

The stainless steel vedika, or the peak atop the stone shikhar, catches the light during sunrise and sunset and also celebrates the industrial legacy of the organization that commissioned this building. In addition, marble was used for a finer finish and detailing on the landscaping wall cladding and flooring separate from the masonry structure.

Special Features: The temple, built of Jaisalmer stone, lets in air and light; water flows through and around it. The interlocking stone joinery is employed to let light into the inner sanctum or the garbhagriha of the temple during the day and let light out during the night, transforming the temple from day to night. Niches and stone screens provide an element of lightness to the structure. The architecture of the temple combines the heavy materiality of the stone with the lightness of the form; the solid looking stone exterior dissolves as the night dawns and transforms into a delicate lantern in the dunes. The light deepens the natural yellow of the Jaisalmer stone of the temple. A balance of opacity and transparency is achieved by play of stone and light as architectural elements. 

While in the first appearance the form of the temple evokes the lines of a traditional Shiva Temple, at closer glance the temple reveals a reimagining of the fractal geometry of the traditional Indian temple structure. Through the design process, the brief was changed from being a Shakti to a Shiva temple, in other words from being a temple for a female deity to a male one. This resulted in an unusual juxtaposition of symbolically masculine and feminine elements of temple architecture in the design. Masculine and feminine are often approached as a continuum, rather than a binary in ancient Indian philosophy and mythology, and the architecture of this contemporary temple also came to symbolically represent the same. As a result, Parikrama (circumambulatory) of Shakti temple is juxtaposed with symbolic structure of Shiva temple that emerges into a spiritual space with an androgynous sensitivity for this place of worship. 

The design of the temple was intended to evoke timelessness; the traditional and still be rooted in its time and place. Through the research and design development process the structured symbolism of traditional temple architecture was filtered to evolve the form. At different times of the day, from different directions, the temple is heavy and light, solid and translucent, valid and void, past and present.