The 2006 Watch listing highlighted the primary threats to Sumda Chun that are typical of most early period temples in Ladakh: increased rainfall in the region has caused failures to the historic roofing systems originally built for an arid climate and thereby damaged the interior decorative features they shelter.
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The 2006 Watch listing highlighted the primary threats to Sumda Chun that are typical of most early period temples in Ladakh: increased rainfall in the region has caused failures to the historic roofing systems originally built for an arid climate and thereby damaged the interior decorative features they shelter.
WMF is providing funding and project management support to a four-year program with the preparation of a site survey; conditions mapping of the temple structure, wall paintings, and sculptures; provisional repairs to the leaking mud roof; and the preparation of a conservation plan to guide all future work.
In 2008 the restoration of the roof and repairs of the vertical cracks in the exterior walls rendered the building watertight and structurally sound; test cleaning of the decorative features and preconsolidation of severely deteriorated areas of painted surfaces was also accomplished.
In 2009 work continued on the exterior and interior features of the temple and adjacent structures and included the provisional stabilization of the painted stupa. Materials testing of the wall paintings continued and microclimate data was collected from data-loggers installed in 2008.
In the summer of 2011 the project at Sumda won a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for excellence in cultural heritage conservation. The award cited the "combined world-class scientific methods with vernacular building know-how," and observed that the "art conservation is particularly notable for its sophistication."
Conservation at Sumda Chun, India