La Facciata Group

The tours of Akshardham usually consist of the guide doing a lot of talking and the visitors doing a lot of listening. For the past three weeks, that's generally been the case. Yesterday, however, was an exception. For a change, I got to do a little talking, more listening, and a lot of translation.

Our distinguished visitors were representatives of the La Facciata quarry of the Campolonghi Group from Carrara, Italy. They were amazed that such intricate carvings could be done on their marble. They wanted pictures so they could enter some of it into competitions. Their visit, though, turned out to be more of a lesson in geology for me than a spiritually-enlightening tour for them.

Their first stop was the exhibitions. Because I was busy, another guide FT'd (Fast Track) them through the exhibitions, and I met up with them afterward. There were three - Dr. Mauricio Lorenzoni, who looked way too stylish to be a Ph.D in geology (maybe a plastic surgeon, but not a rocks geek), his wife Greta, and Emanuele, their interpreter. I began with the standard
"Benvenuto a Swaminarayan Akshardham. Mio nome e' Arpit e sono la vostra guida." To which they respond, "Parlate italiano?!" To which I answer "Purtroppo, non parlo italiano. So I will be speaking to you in English." Once off on the proper foot with a quick jab at Zinedine Zidane for head-butting Marco Materazzi (see the video here) in the World Cup Final, we marched off to see the piece d' resistance, the Akshardham monument itself. Inside the main monument they were completely taken aback. They wandered here and there inside the main monument for about an hour, looking at different carvings, inspecting the stone quality, and just sort of gaping goofily at the intense intricacy.

At one point, Dr. Lorenzoni walks up really close to the marble and stands on his tip-toes (did I mention he was probably 5'2"?) to inspect one particular stone (that was about nose-height on me). I asked him what he was looking at. He responds "Oh it's nothing, really, I just thought I saw some staining." "Staining?" And with that simple question, I got a barrage of follow-ups:

"What bonding agent did you use between the stones?"
"How many ppm trace metals are in the sand/concrete mix?"
"What water source was used to mix the materials for the sealing joints?"

Whoa there. I'm a tour guide. Not an engineer. But what I did get was a science lesson on the staining process of marble. It turns out that water actually can seep INTO marble, and if the "glue" that's used to level the pieces and stick them together contains trace metals, these metals will oxidize and seep into the marble with the water. Then as the water seeps OUT and evaporates, it leaves the oxide stains on the surface. And all this time I thought it was the pollution in the air... Well, apparently the acid rain simply helps the oxidation process along even further, so a combination of New Delhi's pollution and the trace metals in the water is turning very small parts of Akshardham a slightly blackish color. I asked Dr. Lorenzoni where he thought he saw the stain. He points to a blackish streak in the wall - it looks exactly like the natural texturing of the carrara. "Now how on earth could you tell that's a stain?" I asked incredulously. "Anni di esperienza. E mio nome e' Dottore Mauricio Lorenzoni." Point well taken, I guess.

The "tour" (read: geology lesson) went on like this for another half-hour or so. I learned about the three types of carrara marble - Type A, which is very rare now that most of it has been sold to very very rich people to tile their bathtubs; Type B, also very rare but still can be purchased for a premium; and Type C, the most common type of carrara and quite durable.

Walking with us through the monument was Mr. Sagun Patel, who had, during the initial phases of the Akshardham project, been an essential part of the marble selection process. The conversation between him and the Italians turned to how to solve the staining problem. Samples of stone, water, and sand/concrete mix were to be exchanged and taken for testing and experimentation to see what kind of processes could best tackle the staining issues.

The level of conversation quickly went over my head, but I definitely got the idea that our organization is VERY interested in making sure Akshardham stays clean and beautiful for as long as it can. When you look around India and see the great temples of the past beginning to decay and crumble, it's a comforting feeling to know that even for a complex so new, preservation efforts are already well under way. With some good science, a bit of luck, and maybe some divine intervention, Akshardham should be around for quite some time.