Bhubaneswar, Dec. 11 -- The restoration efforts at the Konark Sun Temple have advanced further with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) completing a second round of core drilling inside the temple's sanctum sanctorum. The scientific procedure is part of an ongoing assessment to determine the structural condition of the stone foundation at the proposed location of an underground tunnel.

According to officials, the latest core drilling was conducted 1.2 meters away from the first borehole made earlier this year. Officials confirmed that an 8-meter-deep and 6-inch-wide cylindrical core was successfully extracted parallel to the initial drill.

ASI teams have also collected the sand excavated from the sanctum, along with stone fragment ...