World's First 3D-Printed Temple To Be Built Near Hyderabad Next Month

World's first 3D-printed Hindu temple is going to be built near Hyderabad in Telangana. The temple will be situated within Charvitha Meadows, a gated villa community at Burugupally in Siddipet, about 100 km from Hyderabad. Its structure being built on an area of 3,800 square feet, the construction of this temple is expected to be completed in July.

The temple will be built in a tie-up between Hyderabad-based construction company Apsuja Infratech and Mumbai-based 3D-printed construction company Simpliforge Creations. The 3D technology used to build the temple utilises indigenously developed materials and software.

"The three 'garbha grihas' (sanctums sanctoria) within the structure represent a 'modak', dedicated to Lord Ganesha; a Shivalay, a square abode devoted to Lord Shankar; and a lotus-shaped home for Goddess Parvati," Hindustan Times quoted Hari Krishna Jeedipalli, MD of Apsuja Infratech, as saying.

Sharing his experience about the ambitious project, Dhruv Gandhi, the CEO of Simpliforge Creations, informed, "The concept and design were developed and evaluated by Prof. K.V.L. Subramaniam and his research team from the Civil Engineering department of IIT-Hyderabad.''

After undergoing load testing and evaluation for functional use, it is now being used as a pedestrian bridge in the garden around the temple. In March this year, Simpliforge Creations along with the IIT team built a prototype of the bridge within 2 hours. This was assembled on-site at Charvitha Meadows, Siddipet.

Over a period of 10 days, it took only six hours for the team to print dome-size modak, which was actually a challenging task. "We are hoping that what we learned from the modak will help us finish the lotus earlier than that," said Gandhi.

The team is now working on the lotus-shaped temple dedicated to Goddess Parvati. "With the Shivalay and the modak completed, phase II comprising the lotus and the tall spires (gopurams) are underway," Jeedipalli said.

"We have already proved with our Ganesha temple that shapes that are almost impossible to attain with conventional techniques can be done easily using 3D technology. Now, lotus will prove again to the world the edge that 3D-printing will offer to the construction industry when it comes to free-form structures," Gandhi added.

According to him, the height of the temple will be around 30 feet. From start to finish, the 3D structure takes 2-3 months whereas the conventional building would have required more than double the time. Simpliforge claims to have India's first robotics construction 3D printing facility. The facility is also believed to be the largest in South Asia also.

"Completely printed on-site, the temple's dome-shaped structures presented formidable challenges that required the team to employ bespoke design techniques, meticulous analysis, and innovative construction methods while following the principles of temple architecture resulting in this awe-inspiring architectural marvel," explained Jeedipalli.