Konark: A 6-member team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday visited Sun Temple to review the status of sand evacuation from ‘garbhagriha’ (sanctum sanctorum) of the 13th-century temple at Kornark in Odisha’s Puri district.
“It was a regular inspection. It’s a world heritage monument and we conduct inspections from time to time,” said Additional Director General (Conservation and World Heritage) Janhwij Sharma, who led the ASI team.
More than a century after the British filled the towering architectural marvel with sand to prevent it from crumbling, the ASI started erecting working platforms around the temple to examine the stability of Jagamohan (Mukhasala) and check the condition of the sand, which has settled down by 15 feet, leaving a vacuum at the top.
The 70ft high Jagmohan was filled with sand under the instruction of Lieutenant Governor of Bengal J A Bourdillon in 1903.
Superintending Archaeologist of ASI’s Puri circle, Dibashad Gadnaik, had then said that a small hole will be drilled to ascertain the strength of structure. Laser and endoscopy scanning would be done once again to check the structure again, he added.
The ASI had accepted a proposal to remove sand from inside the Konark Temple, the only UNESCO World Heritage Site, at a national conference on ‘Conservation of Sun Temple’ attended by then Union Culture Minister in February 2020.
The sand evacuation was necessitated after an endoscopy study through an existing hole at the top of the Amalaka carried out by the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) to examine structural damages in the Jagamohan revealed that the sand filling has settled by around 12.5 ft and some stones had dislodged.