By Dr Subrata Nityaranjan Das and Dr Ajay Shashikant Deshpande :
THIS scientific article is a tribute, to one of the greatest kings of all times Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who by his virtue and formidable stature has built this great state called MAHARASHTRA.This is anelaborationofthe maiden project titled "MahaWARSA", conceptualized and executed by city-based Centreofexcellence,Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre, (MRSAC), an autonomous organisation of Planning Department, Government of Maharashtra. Generation of standard and structured Geo Spatial domain information on heritage monuments in 2D and 3D formats is the need of hour and is being addressed by a specialised technology branch of "SpaceArchaeology" perfected by MRSAC, Nagpurfor augmenting the efforts of heritage conservation and restoration.
Maharashtra state is blessed with abundant heritage sites spread over its vast land area of 3.07 lakh sq. km and the north south coastline spanning to 720 km length. Heritage and history of Maharashtra is dominated by the legend king, Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj, whohas carved permanent imprints owing to the 350+forts, aroundwhichthe entire "Swarajya" was built. A maiden and holistic mega effort was execute idina systematicand mission mode approach ,b yintegration of multiple modern and upcoming geospatial technologies. Also, it is beingexecuted for the entire state of Maharashtra covering the various categories of monuments like World Heritage sites,Central Protected M onuments , State Protected M onuments , M u nicipal C o r p o r a tion and Councils protectedmonuments along withthenumerous unprotected monuments whichare invaluable.
Geo Spatial Aerial technologies are integrated for digitisation and database generation pertaining to the cultural and heritage monuments in the state of Maharashtra.Thetough,unconquered and historically importantheritage fort monumentsof Maharashtra are integrally gettingdigitally mapped under this prestigious activity. The pilot work for Sinhagad Forthas been successfully completed by MRSAC, Nagpur for the Directorate of StateArchaeology and Museums, Cultural Affairs Department which was widely acclaimed. Now an MoU has been signed for executing the important task of 2D and 3D mapping of the iconic Raigad fort for Raigad Development Authority, to be completed in one year. The various v a lue-added inputs include D i ffer ential G l obal P o sitionin g System (DGPS) benchmarks, satellite technology based very high resolution 'Or thophoto g r aphs' (Photographs a men able to measurements), UAV based multimodal 3D representations,optically directed Terrestrial Lidar beams to generated interactive 3DMesh,rendered and textured 3D virtual reality models and Walk through of the monuments. Geographical Information System is the technology backbone which stacks all the layers together for preparation of various plans, sections, elevations, facades, engineering drawings, etc.
The new 3D narrative system ‘Maha WARSA’ integrates advantage of digitised archival, in 2Dand 3D of the heritage monuments, with a function of storytelling and provides a platform where all the heritage monuments from protectedand non-protectedcategories, arevisualisedingeospatial domain in e-Governance ready format. The virtual environment and narrative system will work as e-Guide on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) enabled smartphones and tablets with capabilities of Geo Location and Geo Fencing. The 3D narrative system can intrigue people to visit the lesser known and not so famous cultural heritage sites. (Dr Subrata Nityaranjan Das, is DIRECTOR, Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre. Dr Ajay Shashikant Deshpande, is Associate Scientist, Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre.)