Victorian age sundial lies unprotected in Kendrapara town. Telegraph picture

Kendrapara, May 20: A sundial dating back to the British era is wallowing in neglect here.

Built way back in 1887 to commemorate the golden jubilee of the reign of queen Victoria, the sundial is lying abandoned and there have been hardly any effort to conserve this heritage piece.

“The simple time-keeping structure that was in use before the advent of mechanical clocks indicated time meticulously with sunrays casting their shadow over it. The ingenious Victorian structure has a pointer that casts shadow on a calibrated dial indicating the time,” said Bijoy Kumar Rath, former superintendent of state archaeology department.

“Unlike mechanical clocks, the sundial does not project the standard time but it indicates the local time corresponding to the place of observation. However, the local time can be easily converted to the standard time by taking into account the longitudinal difference between the place of observation and the standard (mean) longitude of the country,” said Rath.

Similar sundials reminding one of medieval time-computing technique are, however, better maintained in places such as Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Konark, Barambagarh, Khandaparagarh and Madhupurgarh.

“The historic sundial in Kendrapara has been reduced to an object of neglect. In fact very few people are aware of its presence despite it being present in the heart of the town. Everybody thinks it’s just an ordinary concrete structure. There is no signpost that says the structure belongs to the British era,” said Bichintrananda Mohanty, president, district bar association.

“It is decaying. Its features are disfigured and defaced. Even the municipal body, which is supposed to take up its maintenance, is dumping garbage by its side. The rare structure should be conserved for posterity,” said Rajendra Swar, a banker.

After a cross section of intelligentsia had voiced their demand for its conservation, the urban local body here had carried out minor repair work. But after that the authorities seem to have forgotten about it.

“The sundial structure had lost its original antique character after the repair work was done about a decade ago. The structure was painted in tri-colour. As a result, it lost its ancient look. Visitors are often confused about it and pass it off as a flag-post,” said Rath.

Sundials dating back to the British era continue to thrive in Mukhteswar temple (Bhubaneswar), Ravenshaw University campus (Cuttack), near Konark Sun Temple, court premises in Khandpada (Khurda), Barambagarh (Cuttack) and in Madhupurgarh (Jajpur).

These untiring time-keeping devices are priceless assets of our heritage. It needs to be conserved or else it would be lost forever.

“We are seeking the technical assistance of state archaeology department for its maintenance. The administration would bear the cost of the project,” said Ranjan Kumar Das, Kendrapara, sub-collector.