CHENNAI, INDIA, October 20, 2002: First inspired by the words of Adi Sankara, that once upon a time temples were the focal point of village life and that all social activities in a village revolved around the temple, B. Rajesh, his wife Rajani, their family and friends drove to a remote village where they stayed for a week. Their mission was to clean and renovate temples that had fallen prey to neglect and the passage of time. Rajesh, his family and their friends have been cleaning old temples for the last 15 years since hearing about a dilapidated Vishnu temple in Thirumazhisai near Poonamallee. “I still remember how the Vishnu temple looked when I first reached the place,” says Rajesh. “We could hardly call it a temple. The face of Lord Vishnu was not visible at all. There were cobwebs everywhere and the whole place looked so dirty! We got all the more inspired to start work, and it went on for several weeks.” News of the temple-renovating couple began to spread and they soon received calls from various villages requesting them to rebuild several dilapidated temples. Now, after 15 years of relentless work, they have renovated 50 temples in and around Kancheepuram district, a few kilometers south of Chennai.
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