In my early childhood days, I was introduced to the architectural grandeur of temples, around Kancheepuram, India.
Later as a physiotherapist, I started looking at them from an accessibility perspective. In the recent times, I attended a few talks about temples. It gave me a wider perspective of these structures. The significant community role they have played in the past, than being mere spiritual structures which they have now become.
Our history books do not do enough justice to make us look at a historical structure and be thrilled about them.
Temples have served as educational, financial and political institutions. They promoted art of all kinds, literature; they were places of social gathering, celebrations after a great harvest season or a king’s success in preventing an invasion or acquiring a new territory. Temples served as a support system in times of calamities, natural or invasions. Places of documentation of the administration process. They also provided time tested solutions for conflict prevention and reconciliation efforts.
I love sharing most about temples because they are close to my heart. The more I get to know them; I find it hard to see them in neglect or renovated destroying history. These heritage structures did not have enough accessibility since our culture did not promote independence of physically challenged people. Our culture mandates that we take care of them so well, we literally carried them in (we have lots of folk lore and epics to support this).
I was earlier writing reviews to help persons with disability, identify accessible places (including temples) on Google maps. Nowadays I am trying to promote awareness about temples around Chennai, on what signatures to look for in a particular temple and be proud of it as well.
By starting the application process for Connect Live 2019, I am finding out that, by using connect I can meet people with similar thoughts. I can spread awareness among school children and grown-ups alike. This would in the future, enable better preservation work for our future generations, rather than renovations destroying valuable evidences of our cultural heritage. With google by my side, I am sure we can make them all “inclusive structures”, accessible for people with disabilities so they can enjoy them as well with pride.