HYDERABAD: Sirish Dasari was in the final year of his MTech at National Institute of Technology, Warangal — in a city famous for the many monuments constructed by the rulers of Kakatiya Dynasty — when he decided to take up preservation of at least one monument, albeit virtually. Using a drone, he undertook aerial photography of one of the most famous Kakatiya-era monuments — the Ghanpur temples, famously known as Kota Gullu. The cameras on the drone captured high resolution images of the monument, which were later processed through software applications to render a 3D model of Kota Gullu.
A research paper that he authored on this project, titled ‘UAV in Development of 3D Heritage Monument Model: A Case Study of Kota Gullu, Warangal, India’, was recently published in the Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing.
Speaking to Express, Sirish said developing a 3D model of monuments would help take up their physical renovation. The idea being, as the 3D model exactly replicates the architecture of the temple complex, it can be used as a base-reference to rebuild demolished portions of the structures.
The 3D model can also be used to give people a virtual tour of the monument over the internet and to develop a physical model using 3D printers. Another interesting application is that it can be used to develop a virtual reality experience video. Also, the crumbled pieces of the ancient structure lying across the premises of the monument can be 3D modelled to check where they fit in the still standing structures.
Sirish, a native of Warangal and now working for a private firm in Hyderabad as a GIS Engineer, said the idea stemmed from his interest for the heritage of his native place.
He said, “I believe that the archaeology department must take up the initiative to 3D model all important monuments. It is neither expensive nor time taking.” Kota Gullu is located around 33 km from Warangal city. It was recently reported in these columns how the crumbling 13th century monument was facing a threat from stone quarries in its surroundings.