ASI Starts Laser Scanning of Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri

Puri: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has started laser scanning at the Shree Jagannath temple in Puri on Tuesday.

Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA) allowed the ASI to conduct laser scanning at Natya Mandap, Jagamohan and other parts of the temple except the Garbha Gruha (sanctum sanctorum). 

“It would take three to four days to complete the laser scanning of the temple,” said Arun Malik, Superintending Archaeologist of ASI, Bhubaneswar Circle. 

The ASI has been planning laser scanning for a long time to detect cracks and damages in the temple and evaluate the condition of the earlier repair works.

Sharing about the benefit of the laser scanning, Malik said, “It would help us to get point cloud data which would be used to get accurate measurement, dimension of the monument and damages. The process helps us to do accurate documentation of the heritage structure. This technique is used all over the world to document various heritage monuments.”

The data would be used for the condition mapping of the monument, which would help to know about the present condition of the structure. The data collected would be helpful during the future restoration and conservation work of the temple.

The laser scanning will be conducted in the presence of executive engineer, assistant engineer, temple supervisor and members of the sevayat committee.

Laser scanning of Konark Temple was done in 2020. Rani ka Bhav in Gujarat, Sun Temple in Modhera (Gujarat), Menal in Rajasthan are some of the other monuments in the country where it has been done.

This apart,  ASI would also carry out other maintenance work of the temple during the Rath Yatra.

The ASI will also start the facade lights installation of the temple. “The temple administration has approved for the facade lights installation and we will start the work soon. It will take around one month to finish the work,” he informed.