No threat to structural stability of Konark Temple

Konark Temple

The Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, Maheshwar Sharma today reiterated that there is absolutely ‘no threat’ to the structural stability of the Sun Temple at Konark which is one of the prominent world heritage sites.

After attending a high-level meeting with senior officials of Odisha government, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and other stakeholders held at Bhubaneswar today, Sharma informed that as per the report of the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, there is no threat to the Konark Sun Temple.

“Several technical aspects were discussed at the meeting and it was ascertained that load-taking capacity of the existing walls of the structure is 2,323 against the required score of 469 which is almost five times higher. Similarly, the safety factor is also almost six times high,” said Sharma.

Recently Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had requested the Central government,  based on media reports about the structural stability of the temple, to conduct an inquiry about the replacement of artistic stone carvings at Konark Sun Temple with plain stones.

The Union Minister said that such alterations are prohibited at UNESCO heritage sites and hence have not been undertaken at Konark.

A decision has also been taken during the meeting to form a committee to prepare an expert report on fee issue at the Sun temple and submit it within a month. However, the Union Minister maintained that no fee will be collected for the Naba Graha worship at the temple and entry fee is applicable only for the monument seeing.