Mysuru: Travelling the world and visiting its most amazing sites is every architect’s dream. However, time and money could delay the architect from achieving that dream. As a solution, websites of some famous historical sites offer free online Virtual Tours, which one can enjoy from the comforts of homes. 

Virtual tours may not be as delightful as a first-hand experience. However, they are probably the closest thing to it. The Department of Archaeology and museums has planned a Virtual Tour of 844 protected, traditional and heritage buildings and temples that have an illustrious history. These buildings will be mapped and identified across the State to give the tourist a new perspective.

Mysuru is also home for many heritage structures and temples and this decision by the Department will document such structures and have pin-to-pin details recorded in advanced 3-D format. The Virtual Tours will be hosted on the Tourism Department websites that see a number of hits during                                   tourist season.

Advanced technology will be used to film the monuments and the tours will have all information about the buildings along with visuals like the name, year of construction, under whose rule it was built, construction material used, etc. 

Along with this, information about the inscriptions found inside the heritage structure and related inscriptions found in other parts will be collated and displayed online. Also, conservation measures to be taken to preserve the heritage structure will be listed. 

Details like the extent of the building, area covered, interiors, exquisite sculptures and artefacts, design and other aspects will be recorded and minute details will be covered and linked to Global Positioning System (GPS) Software. Using the link, tourists can have a 360-degree view of the monuments and  heritage buildings. 

The Department has already commissioned the work on identifying and mapping the heritage buildings in collaboration with Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST). The initial survey work will be conducted in Bengaluru to include the four towers constructed by Kempegowda, Devanahalli Fort and Venugopalaswamy Temple inside the Fort, Gavigangadhareshwara Temple, Doddaganapathi and Kaadumalleshwara Temples. Later, the survey will be extended to other districts.