Odisha Scientists Happy As Surya Tilak Illuminates Ram Lalla’s Forehead

Berhampur: Ram Lalla’s Surya Tilak completed with mesmerising images of the sun on the forehead in Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir on Ram Navami amidst huge rush of devotees on Wednesday. The forehead of Ram Lalla idol was anointed with a ray of sunlight.

“There was great tension and we heaved a sigh of relief after the project achieved cent percent success”, said Saroj Kumar Panigrahi Odia scientist at the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee who led a team of ten scientists stationed at the Ram Mandir to ensure the success of this auspicious event.

The weather was conducive for the event with a sunny and clear sky. However, there would have been no sun tilak had the weather turned cloudy.

“The primary goal of the Surya Tilak project is to place a ’tilak’ on the forehead of the Shri Ram idol during each Shri Ram Navami celebration. As part of this initiative, sunlight was directed onto the forehead of Lord Ram precisely from 11.58 am to 12.02 noon on Shri Ram Navami in the Chaitra month annually,” explained Panigrahi.

“The opto-mechanical system consists of four mirrors and four lenses fitted inside the tilt mechanism and piping systems. The complete cover with an aperture for the tilt mechanism is placed at the top floor to divert the sun rays through mirrors and lenses to the Garbha Girha,” he said.

Technical support from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and the manufacturing expertise of Optica, a Bengaluru-based company, further helped the project’s execution. The mirrors and lenses are of very high quality and durable to sustain a long period. The inner surfaces of pipes, elbows, and enclosures are black powder-coated to avoid scattering of sunlight.

Also, at the top aperture, an infrared (IR) filter glass was used to restrict the Sun’s heat waves from falling on the idol’s forehead. The ray is so hot that if one tries to touch it without the IF filter glass, his body would burn, said Panigrahi.

The apparatus, featuring mirrors and lenses, have now been dismantled and kept in a room after the success of this event to safely preserve it for Ram Navami next year. This mechanism, termed the ‘Surya Tilak mechanism’, marks a significant scientific and engineering feat.

Prof R Pradeep Kumar, Director of CSIR-CBRI who mentored the project was present at the Ram Mandir along with Dr Annapurni S Director of IIA Bangalore, Er S Sriram, Professor Tushar Prabhu (consultants), Rajinder Kotaria Managing Director of Optica and his team, who were actively involved in the execution and installation process.

The team from CSIR-CBRI included Dr Saroj Kumar Panigrahi, Dr R S Bisht, Kanti Solanki, V Chakradhar, Dinesh and Sameer.