The Taj Mahal, a 17th century architectural
wonder is known worldwide for its visual appeal in white marble with beautiful
inlay works in the style of ‘Pietra Dura’ from Florence, Italy. The long-drawn
restoration process for structural damage and surface discoloration of this
heritage structure has drawn international attention. The conventional means of
structural survey is based mostly on visual assessments by experts which is
highly time-consuming and subjective; and in most cases can be done only after
the damages become apparent. Consequently, the restoration involves exhaustive
repair procedures. In this work, we have introduced a combination of optical
imaging and spectroscopy techniques, namely, µ-Raman Spectroscopy and Terahertz
Time Domain Spectroscopic Imaging, as an alternative approach for both surface
and subsurface damage detection in Marble structures. In our work, we have
examined some of the most common structural and surface damages in heritage
Marble architectures found worldwide using some selected representative models.
These model slabs bearing similar ornamental colourful motifs like those in the
Taj Mahal were probed by the above two techniques, which showed tremendous
promise in sensing very fine cracks which are visually impossible to detect.
Also, minute changes in surface quality due to the introduction of organic
materials were mapped with high accuracy. This paves the way for an efficient
and trusted survey platform that could be deployed in future which would be
able to provide a fast and reliable structural assessment of our cultural
heritage architectures for the next generation.
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