Tuesday, March 29 2005 20:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Two ancient monuments in India, which had aged with time and tide, will get to relive their youth.

The monuments, the ancient temple complex of Hampi and the sprawling palace of Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatna will get a facelift, thanks to an MoU signed between the Archaeological Survey of India and Belgian pharma major Janssen.

The institutions will for the next three years devise strategies to facelift the awe inspiring temple complex and the palace, both in Karnataka, from the biological deterioration factors that accelerate its wear and tear.

The project, that will begin by April 2005, is to be funded by Janssen.

Hampi was the seat of the mighty Vijayanagara empire and traditionally known as Pampakshetra. The monument was built between AD 1336 and 1570, on the Tungabhadra riverbank.

Krishnadeva Raya, said to be the greatest ruler of the Vijayanagara dynasty set up most of the structure during his reign between 1509-1530.

The temple complex is known for its classy wall carvings, majestic pillars and wealth of iconography, based on the Mahabharata and Ramayana and other Pauranic texts.

Major temples in the complex are that of Pampapati and Vitthala.

Apart from the temples, there are royal buildings, with exquisitely crafted 'anthapura' or inner chambers, expansive pavilions, treasury buildings and even elephant stables.

The site finds a place in UNESCO's endangered monuments list and faces many a wrath-attack of both nature and man. Presence of lichens, fungi and algae on the plaster of the Pampapati temple and on the granite structures are the biological factors that threaten its existence.

Lichens produce biogenic acids that create the chemical damage and along with penetration of their rhizoid into the stone fissures, lichens bring about the damage of the stone marvels in course of time. They also aid the growth of other plants that help to destroy the monument further.

The biological factors have also speeded up the wearing away of the wooden structure, the paintings and canvas on the ceilings of Tipu Sultan's palace in Srirangapatna.

The Daria Dhaulat Bagh or Tipu's summer palace is a teak wood structure built in 1784 in the town that is about 15 kms away from Mysore.

The Indo-Islamic architectural style in which the palace is built has in it beautiful paintings done up in natural colours on every part of its interiors. The main building has around it a verandah that stands on pillars.