Vismrit Bharat: Forgotten India Friends,
"Vismrit Bharat: Forgotten India" is an awareness campaign by Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS) for our cultural and historical heritage. This campaign is essentially a method of protecting, conservation and reconstructing the past from the surviving traces of former societies. Rich cultural heritage of India comprising of monuments, archaeological sites, temples, sculptures, rock arts, remains of any forms etc. which are scattered all over our sub-continent are practically unmanageable for the concerned Government bodies like Archaeological Survey of India or State Archeology Department. Lack of proper hoardings, lack of proper documentation, increasing agricultural fields, encroachments etc. are leading to mass destruction of our cultural antiquities. In these circumstances, the only means of saving our history lies in the hands of common people which are directly or indirectly concerned with that particular area. It is utmost requirement of time that awareness about our historical cultural antiquities is generated among them. Our initiative is aimed exactly as that. It is being led by Dr Mukesh Mishra, an authority on Indian archaeology who has already started started searching for such sites. He is being assisted by many prominent archaeologists. The important places chosen by the team include Mankhera Temple Site on Tikamgarh- Orchha Road having a Surya temple, made by the Chandela dynesty in 8th century A.D with the deity in Kayotsarg Mudra. It also has many stone sculptures of Dancing Ganesh, Swagati etc. scattered there in different shape and size. Similarly, in Chitrakoot District of U.P.Dr Mishra explored the new Rock Art sites Rishiyan, Lauri Kila, and Dasharath Ghat. These sites probably concerned with the upper Paleolithic age to Chalcolithic period. A part from these, several temple sites are also discovered by us for the first time. They include architectural remains at Devipur, Jagadara, Chhibo, Prithvipur and many others places. These temple sites were made by the rulers of Chandela dynasty during the 9th century A.D. In future we plan to refurbish these ancient remains so as to reconstruct and restore their old shape. We shall also organize awareness programs for common people in that area to aid us in this. During the visits, our team talked to the villagers and the Gram Pradhans about the importance of their heritage and tried to convince them to save these great sites. We are committed to take every necessary action for the above monuments, temples and Rock Art sites in all possible ways. We request all such persons who are committed to the cause of preserving and conserving these ancient sites of historical importance to join us. We have also floated a group on both linkedin and Facebook named "Vismrit Bharat: Forgotten India". U r invited to join hands there. Amitabh Thakur President, IRDS Lucknow # 94155-34526 http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=115420995161121&ref=ts http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=3029063&trk=anet_ug_hm&goback=.anh_3029063
