Bhubaneswar: The Archaeological Survey of India carried out a survey of the Konark temple in Odisha’s Puri district and its surrounding areas on Monday for the proposed beautification work.
On the request of the state government, a three-member team of the National Geographical Research Institute (NGRI) surveyed the area through laser scanning. The team was led by DB Garnayak, Superintendent, Puri Circle of ASI and Deputy Engineer Chittaranjan Das.
Besides the sanctum sanctorum of the world famous Sun Temple, the underground of its surroundings was scanned by the team. They wanted to ascertain the presence of any hidden portion of the temple or its debris so that those can be preserved before the authorities start the beautification work.
Garnayak told the media persons that they would submit the survey report of the 13th century temple to the government soon. The government can go ahead with the beautification work on the basis of their finding, he added.
Other members of the team included Senior Scientist Dr AK Pandey, Scientists Nilesh Kumar Jaiswal and Satish Chandra Verma.