Achi Association
  • Temple before restoration in 2000
  • Temple interior before conservation
  • Painting detail of north wall

KANJI –€“ Tsuglag-khang

Conservation Plan

During a meeting attended by John Harrison, Holger Neuwirth, Wolfgang Heusgen, Gerald Kozicz, Edoardo Zentner and Christian Luczanits in the early time of planning, the following procedure for conservation work on the Kanji gTsug-lag-khang was decided.

1. Foundations

First of all, the foundations of the temple, that is, the temple platform, will be consolidated and strengthened. This will be achieved by extending the stone platform on the level of the temple’s floor by c. 50 cm on all sides. The buttresses on the east side will be left in place at this stage (cf. 4.). At the eastern lower side and at the northern rear side of the temple the foundation can be extended more than on the higher western side. A pavement (of flat paving stones) will cover the top surface of the extension as well as the whole platform. The stairs leading to the entrance will be repaired. The terrace in front of the temple will be repaired but remain one step lower than the main platform, as it is at present.

2. Temple Building

At the second stage the roof will be completely replaced. During this stage, a shoring of timber beams will be used as external supports for the temple wall that has started to separate from the rest of the structure. The roof (probably including the parapet walls) will be taken down to the ceiling boards, and damaged joists and ceiling boards will be replaced. While on the north (altar) side of the main beam only two boards need to be replaced, on the side of the door several boards and joists are in poor condition. The masonry around the exterior of the door will be repaired.

To consolidate the moving right-hand (eastern) wall a grid of five east-west tie-beams spanning the temple will be added to the roof construction above the ceiling boards. Three beams of this grid (corners and centre) will project through the walls, and vertical dowels which will be visible from the outside - and thus easily exchangeable - will be added to anchor the moving wall. The middle beam of the grid will additionally be connected to the crossbeam underneath it to support the latter. How the additional space due to the grid will be filled within the roof is still a matter of discussion. Preferably it should remain hollow to avoid any further load on the original timber structure, with a new membrane (a screwed down plywood sheet?) over the grid.

The roof will then be rebuilt in the traditional way. A bottom shrub layer is followed by a layer of clay (min. 6 cm thick) and surface layer of fine clay (4 cm). Outside the lower row of the traditional wooden sticks will be at the same level. The parapet walls will be reconstructed to the height of the present ones, but will continue all round the main structure of the temple.

Regarding drainage two possibilities have been identified: with the first, both roofs (temple and veranda) can be drained in two parallel lines towards the front of the temple. Here the different levels of the two roofs may prove problematic. In a second scenario, the two roofs would drain separately towards the valley. In this case the temple would drain across one of the corners of the endangered wall on the valley side. The restorers will take the final decision on site.

The thick and uneven layer of plaster on the outside walls will be removed and new plaster applied.

3. Veranda

Here the right-hand (eastern) wall needs to be rebuilt from the bottom and to the same dimensions as the left-hand wall, removing the recent stone buttressing. The veranda roof will be separated from the roof of the temple and the parapet walls will be removed. The opening in the roof of the veranda will be closed up and in future the roof will be accessed via a ladder from outside the veranda.

For a covering for the terrace in front of the veranda during rituals we will suggest that the villagers use a temporary tent, which could partly be attached to the veranda. This is of course only possible if the roofs do not drain towards the front.

4. Buttresses

At a later stage when the consolidation work has settled, it is hoped that the buttresses supporting the moving right-hand wall from the outside can be removed to extend the platform in these sections, too. If needed, new buttresses will be constructed.