USA, September 9, 2011: As of his passing, this is a summary of Wikipedia’s article about Ganapati Sthapati:
Vaidyanatha Ganapati Sthapati (1927-2011) was a Sthapati and head of the College of Architecture and Sculpture in the Vastu Shastra tradition ascribed to the sage Mamuni Mayan.
Sthapati was born in 1927 to sculptor Sri Vaidyanatha Sthapati and Smt. Velammal in Pillayarpatti, a village near Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India. He was born into a Vishwabrahmin family. His family tradition claims descent from the architects who created the Brihadeeswara Temple of Tanjore, TN, India.
Sthapati attended Dr. Alagappa Chettiar College, Karaikudi, and graduated with a degree in mathematics. After his graduation, he became a Sthapati at Palani Murugan Temple, Palani, TN, India. He resigned this post after the death of his father, who had served as principal of The School of Architecture and Sculpture at Mamallapuram from 1957 to 1960. He succeeded his father as the Principal of the Government College of Architecture and Sculpture.
From the 1980s, Sthapati campaigned to restore and elevate the status of traditional Hindu architecture in modern Indian society, by affiliating courses to the University of Madras and offering degree courses, bringing about a revival of Vastu Shastra.
After retirement from government service, he established the Vaastu Vedic Trust and the Vaastu Vedic Research Foundation, aimed at research, development, and globalization of Vaastu Shastra. He is also the head of the professional guild named “V. Ganapati Sthapati & Associates.” Dr. Sthapati initiated the development of The American University of Mayonic Science and Technology as an authorized institution to teach this body of knowledge in the western world.
Sthapati served as architect for several buildings and sculptures, foremost among them:
- Sculpture of Tamil poet and saint Thiruvalluvar–Thiruvalluvar Statue at the southern tip of India at Kanyakumari, TN, India
- Design and Construction of University buildings including the Administrative block and library for Tamil University in Tanjore.
- Design and Construction of Valluvar Kottam in Chennai, TN, India.
- The Rajagopuram of Sri Ramar Temple and Sri Ganesh Shiva Durga Temple at The
- Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago complex Lemont, Illinois, USA.
- Sri Murugan Temple, Nadi-Fiji islands.
- The San Marga Iraivan Temple, Kauai, Hawaii.
- Granite sculpture of the Madhavi–heroine of the Tamil epic Silappathikaram, erected in an Art Gallery in Poompuhar, Chennai, TN, India.
- Buddha statue in Hussainsagar Lake, Hyderabad.