Kailasanathar Temple at Uthiramerur in Tamil Nadu is believed to be more than 1,250 years old. The temple dedicated to Shiva had developed serious cracks and was restored by REACH Foundation. Rural Education and Conservation of Heritage (REACH) is involved in the restoration and preservation of the sculptural heritage of India. They have successfully restored numerous ancient temples in Tamil Nadu.
"It was about to collapse completely and there were so many conservation problems because of the growth of thick vegetation on the Vimana or dome of the temple," Dr Sathyamurthy of REACH told the BBC Tamil Service.
While the upper part of the temple was in bad shape, the basement and plinth had other serious issues with cracks at more than 20 places in the granite stones according to the archaeologist.
Faced with serious technical problems the REACH team turned for advice to the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) a premier engineering institute in India.
"In Uthiramerur the options were limited. If the broken stones are to be removed and replaced, the restoration process would have become very complicated and could have further damaged the temple dome."
The site observation and inspection showed that the cracks in the granite stones were "non-progressive" and laboratory tests were conducted to assess the load-bearing capacity of stitched granite beams in comparison with the solid, uncracked granite beams.
In the stone stitching technique, the cracks in the plinth are strengthened with stainless steel rods and an epoxy-based chemical anchor without disturbing the original structure.
If you would like to know more about REACH and their activities you can about it here at the official website.