First GRC Mold Sample

An interview with Parvata Muni das, Director of Research and Development.

GRC (glass reinforced concrete) is a composite material made out of white cement, white sand, polymers from 6 plasticizers, and fiberglass. It is an alternative decorative element. Our temple will have so many decorative pieces. To make them out of carved marble would be extremely time-consuming and fabulously expensive.

First of all, we make a model of the piece we need. Then we add different decorative elements to it. When it is finished we cover it with rubber or silicone to create a mold. From that mold we can produce up to a hundred more pieces. We are doing such a sample at the moment. It is 3.4 meters (11 feet) long. From that mold we can produce a hundred pieces which gives us 340 meters (1,100 feet) total length.

Originally we looked at using outside contractors. But it was my idea to make it by our own efforts. We have devotee-artists here who we can give the job to and produce the GRC here. We bought necessary equipment and raw materials and started production. When the first sample is finished it will go on the front part above the temple entrance. Other parts will also be made out of GRC such as: 24 parts going down from the Kailash, different front decorative columns, and other elements.
Other advantages of making the GRC in-house are: it would be less expensive, it could break up during transportation from outside sources, and when the manufacturing process grows we can employ people living in Mayapur and pay them a reasonable wage.

We will finish our first sample by Gaura Purnima 2015.