One of G20’s key meetings likely to happen at Sun Temple in Konark

By Dr. Gourang Charan Rout

BHUBANESWAR, DEC. 21: The 13th century Sun Temple in Odisha’s Konark is most likely to host one of the key meetings of the G20 Summit as India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year. However, the date for the meeting at Konark is yet to be confirmed.

Sources, however, said Konark is at the top of the agenda for the meeting on the culture track.

A delegation from the Centre visited the site on Tuesday afternoon to take stock of the facilities available for the all-important meeting. Joint secretary of Union ministry of culture Lilly Pandeya, ASI ADG Gurmeet Singh Chawla, ASI Puri circle superintendent Dibisita Brajasundar Gadnayak and other officials were part of the delegation.

Among others, ASI engineer Chittaranjan Das and conservation officer Neeraj Singh were present during the visit.

The delegation inspected the famous Sun Temple premises, security arrangement, communication facilities and other things during their visit.

Built by King Narasimhadeva I of Eastern Ganga dynasty in the 13th Century with Kalinga architecture, the UNESCO World Heritage monument draws lakhs of tourists every year. Since it is a non-living temple, people of all castes, creeds and religions visit this place.

Under the chairmanship of India, more than 200 G20 meetings will be organised at different heritage places till November 30, 2023. The government has been planning to host five key meetings focusing on culture at Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Hindu and Jain temples of Khajuraho, Sun Temple at Konark and Hampi in Karnataka.

However, no official announcement in this regard has been made so far.

After India assumed the year-long G20 presidency on December 1, several states including Odisha have been roped in to organise the pre-summit meets. Over 200 meetings have been planned across 55 locations in the country with the main summit at New Delhi.