By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, December 10, 2018: Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma on Monday said the 13th century Konark Sun temple is safe from all aspects and there is no threat to the UNESCO world heritage site.

Sharma on Monday held a meeting to review issues pertaining to Konark temple and Jagannath temple with Odisha Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda and officials of both the Centre and state here.

He said several issues relating to the temple preservation including water-logging and replacing of plain stones were discussed at the meeting.

“The union government is committed to the preservation and conservation of Konark temple and all other heritage sites of Odisha,” Sharma said.

Reiterating his claim that the Sun Temple in Odisha’s Konark is in a good state of preservation, Sharma said there is no threat for the structural stability of the World Heritage monument.

“There is no threat to Konark Temple’s safety. The strength of safety as per the Newton index is 469 while this monument is 2323. It means the strength of safety factor is 5 times more. As per the MPA the level ought to be 1.4, Konark Temple’s is 8. It means approximately 6 times more safety factor,” Shamra told reporters.

Sharma dismissed allegation in a section of the media that original stone carvings at Sun Temple were removed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and replaced with plain stones saying, “Not even a single piece of stone has been removed” from the temple structure”.

He further made it clear that not a single plain stone has been fixed at Sun Temple after 1997. “ASI looks after the conservation of 3686 monuments. Out of these, 22 are UNESCO heritage sites. No change can be made in UNESCO site. Hence, there is no possibility of plain stones,” he remarked.

However, the Minister said a committee, comprising international experts will be formed and it will submit its expert report within a month. “We will inform the State government about the actions, if any, to be taken,” he added.

In another decision, the Union Minister informed that no fee will be collected for the Naba Graha worship at the temple and entry fee is applicable only for the monument seeing.