Dept, abbot pledge to work together

In what appears to be a compromise, the Fine Arts Department and the embattled Wat Kalayanamit abbot have pledged to work together on a temple restoration plan.

Anandha Chuchoti, the department’s director-general, met the temple abbot yesterday for the first time after Mr Anandha took office last month.

After a 30-minute meeting, Mr Anandah said the abbot agreed to work with the department on a three-step plan to restore the original landscape.

The meeting appeared to be the first compromise between both parties, after conflicts began to emerge when the abbot took control in 2003.

The abbot faced charges of destroying 22 registered heritage items filed by the department in 2008.

A total of 54 houses around the temple were razed last month while families in the remaining seven houses have been pressured to leave after the water and electricity was cut last week.

First, the department will clear the debris of the two pavilions that were demolished by the former director-general, Borvornvate Rungrujee, in July, he said.

The second step, Mr Anandha said, would be to tear down the metal-structured pavilions built in front of the temple’s vihara. The abbot agreed with the reasoning that the modern structures are not in line with the Chinese-influenced architecture and obstruct the beauty of the vihara.

The demolition will take place after Chinese New Year which falls on Feb 8 next year, he added.

For the final step, the department will make a landscape plan for the temple to follow.

Mr Anandha will assign experts in architecture, landscape architecture, engineering and anthropology to work together to see how the temple should be restored.

Under the restoration plan, Mr Anandah insisted the community surrounding the temple could also be restored, although one of the few residents who managed to escape an earlier eviction was not optimistic about the proposal.

The resident said it was not possible to bring back the old community as most houses have been demolished and most families have gone, while those still there are facing pressure to leave.

After the plan is completed, he said, the abbot will need to seek permission from the department if he wishes to restore or build any structure in the temple grounds.

According to Mr Anandha, the abbot also asked the department to clearly designate parts of the temple that have been registered as historical areas and buildings.