Virtual tour of Kanchi temple, Mahabs soon

Chennai: Those who are not able to travel to Mahabalipuram or Kailasanathar temple in Kancheepuram, may soon be able to have a virtual trip to these tourist spots. The Tamil Virtual Academy has embarked on a project to develop a virtual tour of these places of interest.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Prof P.R. Nakkeeran, director of Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA) said the academy has started several projects to document the history, culture, art and life of Tamils and famous traditional spots in Tamil Nadu.

“Many people in Tamil Nadu would have visited Kailasanathar temple and Mahabalipuram but due to lack of time, they would have missed several fine paintings and sculptures. We also want to show foreigners the rich heritage we have in Tamil Nadu.

This led to the idea of a three-dimensional virtual tour of these places,” Prof Nakkeeran said. He pointed out that the academy would soon finalise technical specifications for the virtual tour and complete the project within a year.

Prof Nakkeeran explained that as most sculptures and inscriptions in the Kailasanathar temple and Mahabalipuram are old, the academy will ask an expert to paint them and to be displayed next to the original one in the virtual tour. “In the future, we will select more places for the virtual tour,” he added.

Mr S. Narayanan, a heritage enthusiast, welcomed TVA’s virtual tour project and urged them to use a technology which would help three-dimensional pictures and videos load quickly, even in a slow-speed Internet connection.

“There are several challenges in this project. The visuals need to be bright and easily compatible with all types of browsers like Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome,” he said.