The Virupaksha Temple in Hampi. Photo/Wikimedia Commons
In a bid to attract more tourists and to felicitate research work around monuments in the state, the Karnataka government has identified 844 state-protected monuments for 3D mapping.
According to officials of the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth Rs 64.92 lakh has been signed with the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology for the project.
Claimed to be a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, the department will make the information available on its official website. “These state-protected monuments include palaces, forts, heritage buildings, inscriptions, archaeological sites, temples, mosques, and dargahs. Monuments located in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kalaburagi and Belagavi divisions will be included in this project,” an official said.
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While 118 of these are located in Haveri, over 105 other monuments are located within the ambit of the Bengaluru division. The project will be carried out in a phased manner.
The Gol Gumbaz located in Viajayapura (formerly Bijapur), Karnataka. Photo/Wikimedia Commons
“Once the 3D mapping is completed, the data about each of these monuments will help tourists identify the importance of each structure. While this is expected to attract more tourists to the state, the same data will also come handy to researchers working around these areas,” the official said.
The data is also expected to help the government identify structures that need renovation.
Earlier this year in January, a video clip showing four youngsters damaging a carved stone pillar at Hampi, a UNESCO world heritage site in Karnataka, had gone viral, attracting police action.
The miscreants were later identified using an Instagram post in February and were fined Rs 70,000 each and to participate in the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) restoration of the five stone pillars they damaged.
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