A unique process for restoring the historic Sun Temple in Konark, hit by earthquakes over centuries, has been advanced by a member of a Welsh trade delegation visiting India this week. The process, based on a Roman formula, involves the setting up of a skeleton system within the 13th Century temple to avoid any outside scaffolding that will prevent it from collapsing while work is carried out.

Richard Swift of Cintec International, which proposes carrying out the work, said the first step involves removing large quantities of sand piled up inside the precincts of the temple to prevent it from collapsing. His company estimates it will take 18 months to carry out the work.

Cintec, which has carried out restoration work at Windsor castle and Buckingham Palace as well as at historic mosques in Cairo, has also proposed restoring two Hindu temples in Baramulla district of J&K. The temples known as Bunihar and Datta Mandir are in precarious condition, Swift said. “These are old, unique temples, the idea is to stop further collapse. They don’t want to lose them forever.”

Swift is a member of the delegation that also include business representatives from the education, food processing, film making, engineering and heritage design and manufacturing sectors of the Welsh economy.

Speaking of the work that his company hopes to carry out at Konark and other temples, Swift told The Indian Express: “In Konark, the building is in a very bad condition, there are stones missing. It’s feeling the effects of seismic events and just crumbling over the years and age.”

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