SUN RISE: (Above) The sun was the theme of the annual festival in 2001; Odissi dancers (below) at Konark

If a player is given the word Orissa on the gameshow What's the Good Word, chances are he will say hunger. Or poverty. Or even disaster. Tourism or development won't be one of the associate words. Indeed, an unending series of natural disasters and human follies has made Orissa synonymous with deprivation and kept tourists away from the state. The situation got worse after the supercyclone of 1999 which was followed by a devastating drought.

This cavalcade of misery isn't the only reason why the number of tourists coming to the state has dwindled in the past decade. Tourism and related activities contribute nearly Rs 600 crore to Orissa's GDP. And yet, successive governments have done precious little to develop the tourism sector in the state.

Last year, the state Government woke up to the potential of the smokeless industry that tourism is. As a first step, it worked out a plan to aggressively showcase the Sun Temple at Konark. The magnificently carved 13th century paean to the Sun God outshines the other sun temples in the world both in size and splendour. But Orissa has not been able to harness Konark's allure to attract tourists, relegating it to the position of a third fiddle to Bhubaneswar and Puri.

Konark is suddenly the top priority for the Tourism Department. Orissa Tourism Secretary R. Balakrishnan, who spent sleepless nights devising a USP for Konark, found one in history. Leafing through a tome, he found that the first attempt to conserve the Konark temple had begun precisely 100 years ago in 1901. The then British lieutenant-governor Sir John Woodburn had assigned a team of engineers to clean the structure of silt and give it a degree of shine.

Heritage OPERATION KONARK » The Government's effort is to make Konark an important destination in a tourist's itinerary. » The wheel of the sun chariot is the new face of Orissa. It is everywhere: on postage stamps and on mouse pads and screen savers of computers. » Poetry workshops and essay competitions helped in spreading awareness about the 13th century temple. » The Indian Oil Foundation has allocated Rs 10 crore for the conservation of the temple structure. » Tourist traffic to Konark increased from 3.5 lakh in 1999-2000 to about 11 lakh in first nine months of this year.

The Government is now trying to repeat history. The chance discovery of the milestone in Konark's history has fuelled a marketing strategy for the Sun Temple. "100 years of scientific conservation and 800 years of history", scream centrespreads in various publications. "Just as Kerala successfully sold rains, Orissa is selling the sun," says Balakrishnan. And how. The Tourism Department has already spent about 40 per cent of its total publicity budget for the year on Konark alone, underlining the importance the Government attached to the temple town.

With the Government deciding to make the wheels of the sun chariot the popular face of Orissa, 2001 saw a series of events and activities to celebrate the icon, including the release of a postage stamp on Konark, a poetry workshop and an essay competition on the temple.

Indeed, Konark is the buzzword and Orissa is awash with motifs of the temple. In an unusual marriage of history and latest technology, the sun temple can be seen on mouse pads and screensavers of computers. Throughout the annual five-day Konark Festival in December, the underlying theme was invariably the sun. "Konark has never had it this good," gushes Orissa's Tourism Minister Bijoyshree Routray.

Of course, the Government is also trying to improve the infrastructure in the town. While the Tourism Department is putting pressure on the lone cellular phone operator in the state, Reliance Telecom, to include Konark in its mobile range, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, himself a heritage buff, has written to the Union surface transport minister pleading that the road leading to Konark be declared a national highway. That perhaps will ensure that Konark's passage to glory is smoother.

The concerted efforts have paid rich dividends. The number of visitors to Konark has jumped up in the past year. Compared to only 3.5 lakh tourists who visited Konark in 1999-2000, over 11 lakh tourists have already visited Konark since April 2001. The number is expected to touch almost 14 lakh by March 2002.

Everyone agrees that 2001 has turned out to be momentous for the temple as was 1901. If the temple survived because of timely conservation by the British in the beginning of the 20th century, it has begun to flourish in the new millennium. In contrast to the Rs 50 that was contemptuously denied for the temple's repair in 1858 by an insensitive British commissioner, the Indian Oil Foundation, a division of the giant oil PSU, is spending Rs 10 crore to give the temple a facelift. Says T. Satyamurthy, the chief of the Orissa circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI): "Konark holds out tremendous hopes and challenges."

This holds immense hope for the temple structure as well as our understanding of the past. Sample digging done last year has hinted that there is another level beneath what is regarded the base of the temple now. The ASI has now begun excavations.

But the challenges are enormous. For one, three expert committees set up over the past five decades have failed to agree on the temple's conservation. In the absence of a consensus, no scientific study of the temple structure has been done. Nor is there evidence of any systematic conservation efforts. Afraid that any tinkering would cause the temple structure to collapse, a decision has been kept in abeyance for decades.

But with money and mind focused on the temple town as never before, it seems this is the best chance for Konark's wheels to turn. For the better.