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Bharateswar temple |
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Mukteswar temple |
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Lakhmaneswar temple |
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Parsurameswar temple |
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 22: Special lighting arrangements would be made at eight major temples in the Old Town area to boost their tourist appeal. While the illumination work at three of these shrines is almost complete, it is about to commence at the five other temples.
The Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC), the executing agency of the project, has sought the permission of the Archaeological Survey of India for taking up the illumination work at the five remaining temples .
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Rajarani temple |
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Satrughneswar temple |
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Rameshwar temple |
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Lingaraj temple |
Tourism secretary Santosh Sarangi said: “Temples like Lingaraj, Rajarani, Mukteswar, Rameswar, Parsurameswar, Lakshmaneswar, Bharateswar and Satrughneswar will be illuminated with the LED-based ‘dynamic lighting system’. A sum of Rs 3.98 crore would be spent on the project.”
“The funds for the illumination project are being provided by the Centre under the Mega Project Scheme for the development of Bhubaneswar-Puri-Chilika tourism sector,’’ he added.
A.K. Patel, superintending archaeologist (Orissa circle) of the ASI, said: “Illumination of monuments will require regular maintenance including payment of electricity bills. So we have forwarded the file to our director general in New Delhi. Once the clearance is received from the head office, we will apprise the OTDC so that signing of the MoU can take place.”
Earlier, the monuments used to be illuminated with halogen lights that generated a lot of heat. Besides, there was always the risk of upper part of these structures getting damaged. In contrast, LED-based floodlights are cooler and safer for such important tourist places. They also radiate a variety of colours that add to the beauty of these edifices at night.
“The LED lights will also consume 80 per cent less electricity and cost less in terms of maintenance. Temples like Rajarani and Mukteswar will have multi-colour lighting,’’ said an OTDC official. The illumination work at Lakshmaneswar, Bharateswar and Satrughneswar temples is nearing completion.
As for the lighting arrangements at the Lingaraj temple, the OTDC official clarified that the new LED-based lighting arrangement will use the existing cable structure to which the temple management has agreed. He said that Rameswar and Parsurameswar temples would have a combination of conventional and LED-based lighting system, the equipment for which will be supplied by electrical companies companies like Philips and Bajaj.