Dear Amitabh ji,
I really appreciate the step taken by the IRDS to save our cultural and historical heritage. In a culturally rich country like India, where hundreds of years old monuments, temples & sculptures are lying all over the country and where it is not possible for the concerned authorities to take care of all the sites due to lack of resources & manpower…someone should come forward and take the responsibility. Lack of awareness among the local people is the major concern and it is a very good idea to involve local people in conservation activities. We have done the similar activity in Agra by involving the school children with the help of ASI. Schools were motivated to adopt a lesser known monument and they were responsible for the cleanliness around the monuments and creating awareness among the people living in the nearby areas. Here I suggest..it would be a great help if we bring these sites (Mankhera & Rishiyan) on tourist map so that the tourists going to Orcha & Khajurajo visit these temple. In this way the villagers will take care of that site and in return this become a good source of earning for them. Please let me know if anything is there for me... Thanks & best Regards Amit Sisodia, Travel Consultant 9871891899 On Sun, May 9, 2010 at 9:04 AM, Amitabh Thakur <[email protected]> wrote: > > > 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 > > >
