Temple of Steps

Sameep Padora & Associates - Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh - 2019

Key words: Balaji, Corbelled, Ecological, Kund, Limestone, Nandyal, Shrines, Steps, Varahaswamy

TEMPLE EXTERIOR - Photography: © Edmund Sumner

The Balaji Temple in Nandyal, also called the Temple of Steps, is a contemporary interpretation of historic temple traditions that integrates ecological awareness with cultural symbolism. Designed by Sameep Padora & Associates, the project seeks less to innovate for modernity’s sake than to ground itself in context - social, spiritual, and environmental. Inspired by 10th-century Tirupathi temples, the complex contains two shrines - Balaji and Varahaswamy - anchored by a Pushkarini (water tank) and surrounded by ancillary facilities such as kitchens and priest quarters.

What distinguishes this temple is its synthesis of architecture and landscape. The use of locally sourced black limestone and corbelled profiles not only evokes Indian architectural heritage but also supports passive cooling by embedding soil and planting. The stepped forms, reminiscent of Benaras ghats, connect the sacred and social by doubling as access routes to water, enabling rituals and communal gathering. More than a symbolic gesture, the temple’s water strategy functions ecologically by diverting quarry runoff into a vegetated retention basin, naturally recharging groundwater.

Padora’s design foregrounds dialogue - with priests, tradition, and ecology - resulting in a temple that is both intimate and monumental. By uniting kund and shikhara, water and stone, the project embodies a holistic sacred precinct, merging ritual continuity with environmental resilience.