BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, July 28, 2007: The Archaeological Survey of India will remove the sand that was used to close the four entrances at the Konark Sun Temple to preserve the 13th century monument. Orissa’s culture secretary Gopinath Mohanty said, “For more than a century now, the inner room of the temple has been filled with sand. It was feared that the temple’s roof could collapse if the sand was taken out. But the Union Culture Ministry, through ASI, wants to engage global experts to drain out the sand completely so that visitors can get to see the inner walls of the temple. The Union culture secretary has informed us about this. For this, a global tender would soon be floated.”
D.N. Dimri, superintending archaeologist of ASI in charge of Orissa, said, “In 1903, the insides of the Jagamohan (porch) was filled with sand after building a parallel wall. A hole was built on the top portion of the Jagamohan and sand was poured into it. Studies have been taken in the past to determine if this sand can be removed. It will be a very sensitive operation and therefore a global tender is being floated. The objective is to remove the sand with minimum interference to the existing temple structure.” Dimri adds that if the sand is taken out, then visitors can walk through the Jagamohan again.