This project digitised murals in Tamil Nadu from the Pallava, the Chola, the Nayak and the Maratha periods. Wall and ceiling paintings in six temples and one palace were photographed, dating from the 16th to the 18th century.
The rich cultural heritage of temple art in India is rapidly deteriorating because of vandalism, weather conditions, practices such as burning camphor for ritual purposes, etc. A systematic digital documentation is needed in order to preserve this art in digital form, which, in turn, will be used by scientists to carry out research, by the general public to discover this unique heritage, and by temple authorities and government bodies to better conserve and preserve these art works. The rich mural heritage is to be protected in order to keep a legacy of the past history. Digitising them in a detailed manner is the only way to preserve and conserve them for the future. The French Institute of Pondicherry has been engaged in documenting temple related objects for more than five decades. The documentation helps scholars all over the world to carry out their research.
