SITA Vice Chairman Shri Narayan Chandra Borkataky visits Madan Kamdev Temple and IIT-Guwahati for review of ongoing project
Dispur, Rongili Barta: Hon’ble Vice-Chairman Shri Narayan Chandra Borkataky of State Innovation & Transformation Aayog (SITA), Assam visited the archaeological site of Madan Kamdev Temple at Baihata Chariali, Kamrup, Assam for a preliminary discussion regarding restoration and preservation of the temple. IIT-Guwahati plan to use modern technology and the archaeological evidence on the site to reconstruct the whole Madan Kamdev temple virtually as well as providing the virtual image for the actual reconstruction process.
The main objectives of the virtual reconstruction of Madan Kamdev temple would help in understanding the architectural feature of Madan Kamdev temple. Throughout the process of virtual reconstruction like planning, data acquisition, and data processing and so on will help in generating the samples for further archaeological investigation like dating, information about bonding material, other raw material used in architectural construction. It would also help in documenting the site as well as structure for future research work.
Later Hon’ble Vice-Chairman Shri Narayan Chandra Borkataky also visited IIT-Guwahati and reviewed the progress of the ongoing project namely “Annotated Atlas of Heritage Site of Assam: A GIS Documentation (Phase I) implemented by IIT, Guwahati incorporating with Heritage Conservation of Assam. They are jointly working on the project to make a visual presentation of the cultural profile of Assam and digitized maps will be produced which will be interactive and by using QR codes this data can be uploaded in the public domain. The project is being funded by the State Innovation and Transformation Aayog (SITA), Assam.
The Annotated Atlas will be the first of its type on the Heritage sites of Assam. A printed version of the atlas with the maps and the annotated information will be a major output of the project. It needs to be mentioned that previously on January 30, 2023 a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed between SITA & Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati at Janata Bhawan, Dispur for the said project.
Hon’ble Vice-Chairman Shri Narayan Chandra Borkataky in the meeting said that it is our utmost duty to conserve the heritage sites and Geo-tag the heritage centres which he hoped with the collaborative efforts of IIT-Guwahati could help in achieving this crucial project. Vice-Chairman spoke at length about preservation and accessibility of cultural heritage which have become essential with the rapid advancements of globalization and modernization endeavors constantly threatening historical artifacts and sites across the world.
The current project aims to explore the potential of metaverse applications in digitalizing cultural heritage, encompassing virtual reconstructions, educational outreach, global accessibility, and sustainability. He also mentioned that the findings would provide valuable insights into developing innovative strategies for preserving cultural heritage in the digital age while highlighting best practices and guidelines for optimizing metaverse applications in cultural heritage preservation.
It may be mentioned that all the heritage sites that have been covered in the first phase are further visualized and mapped collectively. The heritage sites are color-coded based on the date of the site, and their abundance is noted and visually represented on a map. The heritage sites that have been covered in the Jalukbari L.A.C are mapped in clusters that are color-coded according to their time of occurrence. Also, an abundance map is prepared to display the density of occurrence of all the heritage sites in Jalukbari L.A.C. The mapping and visualization of heritage site density is still in progress, with new findings continuously being added to the database. The creation of a digital database and interactive maps is the highlight of the project. Over 57 sites are documented across these L.A.C.s, including sites of religious significance, engineering marvels, inscriptions, colonial structures and ramparts.
Shri Deba Kumar Mishra, ACS, District Commissioner, Kamrup along with officials from SITA, IIT-Guwahati and Heritage Conservation Society of Assam accompanied him during the visit.