Konark’s sun sets

The ASI has failed to do its restoration job? Reports Dhrutikam Mohanty

The Konark Sun Temple, a world heritage site, is in a sad state. Not a day goes by without some new crack surfacing in the temple, whose conservation is the responsibility of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Says Dibakar Nayak, a local resident: “It is the ASI’s slipshod work that is to blame. Many stones of the temple have come loose, and keep falling off.” Of the main structure all that remains of the 13th century monument today is the dilapidated Mukhashala, and the little that the ASI has been able to conserve hardly conveys its former majesty. Historians say 1,200 masons took 12 years to build this wonder during the Ganga dynasty’s reign in Orissa. Ferguson even rated it as one of the finest specimens of Indian architecture. However, though long years of neglect have extensively damaged its statues, pillars and carvings, and limbless deities, it still attracts millions of visitors from the world over. The ASI had taken over the task of its restoration and conservation as early as 1957, and this is all it has got to show! Alleges local journalist Rabindra Bahinipati: “Unskilled labourers were engaged to drill and place iron clamps around the loose portions.” To all these reports the ASI’s response has throughout been one of denial. Indeed, its officials go so far as to claim that the monument is in ‘perfect state’, and all the reports that say it isn’t are false. And insisting that not a single stone has so far fallen off the structure, they point to the pieces of glass they have fixed in different places to determine the nature of the cracks.” All this is hotly denied by the Konark Surakshya Samiti, which claims that two boulders recently broke loose – one in the northwestern and the other in the northeastern corner of the temple entrance. Samiti activists say that while these were hastily removed, there are many others still lying around that give the tale away. Meanwhile, the Orissa government has set up a joint committee comprising representatives of the ASI, district administration and the state culture department, and asked it to report on the temple’s status within a week.