BHUBANESWAR: Hundred and nineteen years after it was sealed by the British, sand from the towering Jagamohan of 13th century Sun Temple at Konark will finally be evacuated. The process began on Thursday with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) beginning construction of a mechanical working platform on the western side of the structure to facilitate sand removal.
The massive and sturdy working platform will come up over the ‘Antarala,’ which is a vestibule in the form of an intermediate chamber connecting the ‘garbhagruha’ to ‘mandapa’ of the temple. It’s going to be a long drawn-out process. ASI sources say the whole project of sand evacuation could take at least three years. The British took three years - from 1901 to 1903 - to fill Jagamohan with sand, the volume of which is still unknown.
Construction of the mechanical working platform would take two to three months to complete. Thereafter the process to remove stones over the ‘Antarala’ from the western side of the temple will begin in January next year. The stones will be removed for the creation of a 6 ft X 5 ft hole/tunnel manually at the location where the British had originally put sand inside the monument, Superintending Engineer of Bhubaneswar Circle, ASI, Arun Malik told the New Indian Express.
“Before that, we will put up a structural health monitoring system in the monument to check the vibrations and tilt. Subsequently, two core drilling will be done at the point which was used by the British to fill in sand and another at the bottom of the ‘Antarala.’ This will help us understand the internal masonry and make a tunnel in the structure,” he said.
Earlier in the day, groundbreaking ceremony for the work was conducted by ASI officials on the premises of the temple - Odisha’s only World Heritage Site. Malik informed that the extent of sand inside the Jagamohan at present is up to 19.8 mtr (64.9 ft) from the bottom of the 39.6 mtr (130 ft) high monument and the sand has settled by 5.8 mtr (19 ft) from the top.
The window will be created 5 to 7 ft below the point where the sand from the top has settled. In the first phase, sand will be removed from this point to create an internal concrete platform which will be supported by props from the inner cavity. “This will be retro-fitted and then using traditional conservation methods, we will remove the platform and slowly go down,” he added.
Regarding the structural safety of the ancient monument, Malik informed that the Roorkee-based Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) has conducted studies which assured that the structure is safe enough for this work.
The decision has been hailed by several heritage conservationists. Earlier while speaking to Express, Anil Dey, author of ‘The Sun Temple of Konark’ and ardent observer of the temple, had said that the huge pile of sand inside Jagamohan is settling, creating enormous horizontal pressure and other complications.
INTACH State Convenor AB Tripathy said the heritage watchdog has been demanding the removal of sand from the Jagamohan for over a decade now. “This is the best news in Indian archaeology in general and Odisha in particular. In the last three decades, many international experts have suggested removal of the sand,” he said. As per CBRI’s estimation, the mass of the Jagamohan at top of the plinth level would be a humongous 46,000 tonnes.