The ongoing restoration of the Indorana Shiva Temple, a 9th-century Kalinga-style monument, has led to a major engineering discovery. While reinforcing the foundations, conservationists identified a seismic-isolation layer composed of charcoal, sand, and river pebbles. This primitive but effective anti-seismic design likely explains why the temple remained standing while other contemporary structures in the region collapsed during medieval-era earthquakes.
The restoration team is now focused on the temple's spire (shikhara), where they are replacing damaged stone lintels with hand-carved replicas using traditional tools. The project has also revealed hidden inscriptions on the ceiling slabs that detail the names of the master weavers who funded the temple's construction. This finding shifts the historical understanding of the temple's patronage from royal decree to a collective merchant guild effort.