ASI resumes operation to remove sand from 13th-century Sun Temple in Konark

ASI superintending archaeologist DB Garnayak said a core drill was conducted to assess the wall’s strength

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials have started drilling into the weathered walls of the Jagamohan (assembly hall) of the Sun temple at Konark, the only surviving edifice of India’s iconic medieval monuments, to remove the sand that was filled into it more than a century ago.

ASI superintending archaeologist DB Garnayak said a core drill was conducted to assess the wall’s strength. “After that, we will get to know the thickness of the wall. Based on that information, further steps will be taken to strengthen it,” he said.

The process involves piercing through khondalite stone at a point between the structure’s first and second tiers, marking the first step in what has b