Ramappa temple the genius of Kakatiyas

HYDERABAD: Imagine a super structure, made of bricks that float on water but have the strength and durability double that of the ones you and I know. Unbelievable? The famous Ramappa Temple in Palampet, Warangal district, constructed in the Kakatiya era, has such bricks in its dome.

A demonstration of their magic vis-a-vis normal bricks to a packed hall during the launch of a Coffee Table Book, Kakatiya Dynasty,in the city recently had everyone in raptures over the engineering genius of the Kakatiyas.

Prof M Pandu Ranga Rao, retired professor of civil engineering at the Regional Engineering College, Warangal, who is now a trustee of the Kakatiya Heritage Trust and Warangal Convener of INTACH, believes the light weight bricks were used in the construction of the Ramappa Temple's dome to reduce load on its foundation.

Speaking to media, Rao, who headed the project Geo Technology Appraisal and Evaluation of Kakatiya Monuments in the 80s, explained that the light weight or floating bricks' density is 0.9 gms/cc whereas density of water is 1 gm/cc. 'Those bricks are lighter than water. Hence, they float on water. The bricks used nowadays measure 2.2 gms/cc in density,' he said.

Though they are lighter than normal bricks, they are in no way inferior are in fact, stronger and more durable. 'Porosity of those bricks is very high, while permeability is very low,' the professor said.

Porosity means the property of being porous, being able to absorb fluids and permeability is flow of water through pores. Asked how could Kakatiya engineers come up with such material, Rao said presumably, they used forest gum, jute, paddy husk, with a particular type of clay to make the bricks and when they were burnt in kilns, the organic material in the ingredients used for manufacture of clay vaporised and holes were formed inside the brick that were not interconnected, thus giving both high porosity and low permeability.

'Though there is research going on them, there is need for further intense research, so the present society can benefit from the results,' Rao said.

1000-Pillar Temple Prof Rao, who is currently engaged in reconstruction of Kalyana MAandapam in the famous 1000-pillar temple in Warangal, which has been in a state of utter ruin for long, said Kakatiya architects and masons were unparalleled in construction technology. 'They had adopted Sand Box Foundation Technology to give durability and longivity to the super structure constructed apart from utilising the appropriate rocks and number of layers of them,'' he explained.

Stating that such foundations were used for massive temples and other structures, Rao said that for over 1000 years, those structures had remained intact.

'For example, a temple is constructed over a 40 meters by 40 meters square. For foundation, three to four meters of pit is excavated and refilled with sand and made well densified by heavily compacting it.

Over it layers of stone are spread. In case of the Ramappa Temple, it was sand stone, while it was granite and dolerite rocks in the 1000-pillar temple''.

Seven such layers of stone are laid one over the other, after which, four layers of Kakshasana are laid, on which the floor of the temple using stone slabs is built.

Floor is followed by floor beam, on which columns are built and roof beams will be laid followed by corobelling and then, the roof structure or Gopuram. ''Masons and engineers of Kakatiya era excelled in rock restoration,'' Rao said.

According to him, structure built on sand confined in the box is stable, but if the sand escapes, there will be problems.

'Kakatiyas had to ensure that all such faults were taken care of while constructing the monuments which we see today. In case of Kalayana Mandapam, perhaps, vagaries of nature might have affected it,' he said.

'We are adopting the same techniques followed during the Kakatiya era.' Panduranga Rao said.