According to temple officials, the goal of implementing AI is to produce actionable data on crowd movement at key locations such as Lions Gate, Baishi Pahacha, Sata Pahacha, Chakada, Ananda Bazaar, Natya Mandap, and Jagamohan.
“Through AI solutions, we can accurately and efficiently monitor and regulate the number of devotees who enter the temple for darshan at any given point of time. Currently, crowd management in the shrine is being done manually and there is only one manual footfall counting system on its premises,” said Siddharth Shankar Swain, the Collector and Deputy Chief Administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).
By employing advanced sensor technologies such as infrared and video analytics, real-time data on the flow of devotees into the shrine can be gathered. This data will allow authorities to optimize crowd movement at various locations and efficiently schedule ‘darshan’. “For example, if the capacity of Jagamohan is to hold 1,000 devotees at a given point of time and there are already 1,000 people inside it, the AI solution can give us data regarding it and accordingly, we can regulate movement of devotees during that point of time,” the collector explained.
Officials stated that the locations within the shrine where the hardware components of the AI solutions are to be installed will be identified, and a control room will be established for real-time monitoring. The work is expected to begin in about two months.
The SJTA had issued an expression of interest to implement a dynamic footfall counting system in the shrine. On Wednesday, six companies presented their AI-based technologies that could be utilized for this purpose.
The demand for a technology-based solution for crowd management at the 12th-century shrine arose after the government decided to reopen all four of its gates, which led to overcrowding. The reopening of the four gates had been a long-standing request from devotees. Currently, while devotees can enter the temple through all four gates, they must wait within barricades to access the sanctum sanctorum through a single entrance—the Sata Pahacha Dwara (the seven steps at the north entrance of the main temple).
ALSO READ:-
0 Comments