Abstract: “The paper addresses earthquake protection for architectural masonry temples of India, which are supported over large marble pedestal. The concept of seismic isolation has been applied here to these temples by separating the super structure from the pedestal by a smooth friction layer in the form of marble/marble interface. The response of the base isolation system is estimated numerically by solving the governing equations of motion under earthquakes ground motion compatible with the 5% damping design spectrum of Indian standard code for earthquake resistant design corresponding to the level of maximum considered earthquake in the most vulnerable seismic zone. In comparison with the response of the fixed base structure, nearly 50% reduction in absolute response acceleration for the isolated temple building was observed at the roof level at the cost of 30 mm base sliding displacement, which is well within large marble pedestal and can be used as a base isolation technique for preserving”

Keywords: Architectural temples, base isolation, earthquake protection, masonry, monuments.