Odia scientist leads ‘Surya Tilak’ project at Ayodhya Ram Mandir

Bhubaneswar: A team from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), led by an Odia scientist, has crafted the unique ‘Surya Tilak’ project at Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya.

Under the project, sunlight in the shape of a ‘Tilak’ will appear on the forehead of Lord Ram’s idol in Ayodhya temple on Ram Navami every year.

The project has been designed under the leadership of Odisha-born scientist Saroj Kumar Panigrahi, sources said.

The unique project will work with the help of sunlight, mirrors and lenses. However, there will be no use of electricity, battery, iron and steel, sources added.

According to sources, scientists from the Roorkee-based CBRI have used brass for the manually-operated system.

“Sunlight in the shape of a circular Tilak will appear on the forehead of Lord Ram’s idol in Ayodhya temple on Ram Navami. The Tilak will appear on Lord Ram’s forehead for three to four minutes at the noon on Ram Navami,” said a source.

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics and a Bengaluru-based engineering institute have assisted the CBRI team in the project.

Born to Gourang Panigrahi and Hemalata Panigrahi of Paralakhemundi in Odisha’s Gajapati district, Saroj had completed his school education from his home town.

He had done B.Tech from Burla engineering college and M.Tech from erstwhile Regional Engineering College (REC) in Rourkela.

Saroj has been working as a scientist at the CBRI after completing his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee.