CHENNAI: It may appear to be just a colourful table calendar with a few images at the first look. But the appearance does not reflect the reality. One needs to take a deeper glimpse of the images to realise and relish the features.
The QR code printed below the picture of the protected monument on each of the six leaves helps us get a view of 360-degree image providing a treat to the eyes.
Besides bringing to the eyes the marvels of the ancient architecture, this unique calendar, brought out by the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, teaches history and the glories of ancient culture to the younger generation.
Explaining the features of the calendar, the Commissioner (in-charge) for Archaeology Dr D Jagannathan said that “cloud computing” technology has been adopted to provide a link to the website of the department to get access to the images displayed in 360 degrees.
“When we scan the QR code using our smartphones, an app will display and it further leads to viewing the image in 360 degrees”, he told Express.
The calendar features the images including the 8th-century Vettuvan Koil located at Kazhugumalai in Thoothukudi district. It is a Pandya period monolithic temple protected by the Department of Archaeology.
The Department plans to circulate the calendars, initially, to top government authorities before exploring the options of commercial production so that they could be made available to the public.
As the catch words in the calendar read: Preserve the past, Leave it to future, the Department of Archaeology has done a commendable job demonstrating “it does what it preaches”.