Published in Bombay Times

on Tuesday 20th August 1996

     The 150-year-old Jivdani Temple at Virar, which attracts thousands of devotees on Sundays and during festivals, is getting a facelift.  And the man entrusted with the job is the Mumbai-based traditional temple architect, Hariprasad H. Sompura.

     The marble image of Goddess Jivdani which is the patrol deity of Maharashtra's agricultural community is situated on a 600ft high hill and devotees have to trudge 1200 steps to reach the sanctum.

     The Jivdani Temple Trust has elaborate plans for a nine-storeyed temple structure with floors devoted to images of saints from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajashtan; a hall devoted to images of goddesses; a hall with images of 12 jyotirilings; a library devoted to all the major religions of the world and others.  The Trust hopes to spend Rs. 50 lakh on the stone work alone.

     Once the construction is completed accommodation and the food will be provided free of cost to visiting religious preachers for a period of three days.

     The Shikharor dome of the temple made of limestone will be designed according to the Hemmadpanthi style, an architectural style once prevalent in Maharashtra but now extant due to Mughal invaders.  "We have selected limestone because the temple's proximity to the sea." says fifty-two-year old Sompura, who is credited with designing some 25 temples in Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Gujarat has been entrusted with renovation work at Elephanta Caves by Maharashtra's department of archeology.

     The facelift, which will take five years to complete, includes construction of the nine floor, carvings on the dome and two capsule lifts for the aged and children.

     The carvings on the dome and pillars will be executed by the Sompuras of Palitana (Gujarat), the traditional artisans who have been taking care of the 863 Jain temples on Shatrunjaya hill for generations.

     "These workers who daily climb 2000 feet to reach the Palitana temples will begin work at Jivdani once the monsoon is over, "says Sompura.