A monumental effort for heritage

Renovation to attract pilgrims

Hyderabad, Nov. 24: The state government is spending Rs 20 crore to revamp museums and to restore Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu and Jain monuments. This effort is being taken up to avail part of the Rs 40 crore allotted by the 12th Finance Commission to protect heritage monuments. Another action plan to conserve heritage structures of various periods is under preparation to make use of the remaining funds.

"We have called tenders for all the projects and works will commence soon," said Dr P. Chenna Reddy, the director of the AP state archaeology and museums department. "We will complete works within the stipulated time," he said.Dr Reddy added that the Central funds would be used in a phased manner to conserve, restore and maintain more heritage monuments.

As part of the project, 40 temples across the state would be restored at an expenditure of Rs 20 lakh. Tenders have been submitted for the restoration of the Kakatiya temple heritage projects, Nidikonda Shiva temple, Perumalla Swamy temple and Erukalala Parameswari temple in Nellore and the Dharmalingeswara Swamy temple in Panchadarala.

At the same time, the department is also carrying out major excavations at Buddhist monastic sites such as Jagathipadu in Srikakulam district and Phanigiri in Nalgonda district. "We are awaiting permission from the Archaeological Survey of India to start the excavation of other Buddhist sites along with the restoration works at Totlakonda and Pavuralakonda in Visakhapatnam district," said Dr Reddy.

Other works being taken up include the conservation of Kondapalli Fort in Krishna district by spending Rs 75 lakh and restoration of Raymonds Tomb for Rs 10 lakh. The department is also taking up projects for the protection of temples in the Telangana and Rayalseema regions.

The restoration of the Srisailam pavilion at the Andhra Pradesh state museums in the city is almost over. The pavilion contains a prehistoric rock art gallery, megalithic gallery, other antiques, manuscripts and paintings. It will be opened to the public by the first week of December 2008.

"We are also revamping the numismatic gallery at the Museum and will open it shortly," Dr Reddy said. The department has discovered several rock art sites of the proto-historic period in the southwestern part of the state, Iron Age sites near Hyderabad and Buddhist sites in north coastal Andhra. These will be excavated. Further, archaeologist are also taking out a major study to identify the 30-walled towns of Andhra Pradesh mentioned by Greek traveller Megasthenes in his classic work Indica, penned in 300 BC.

Hyderabad, Nov. 24:The archaeology department is trying to promote religious tourism while renovating monuments which have historical and architectural legacy. For instance, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is restoring the Navabrahma Temples of Kurnool to coincide with the Tungabhadra Pushkaram to be held next month.

Constructed by the Chalukyas of Badami who reigned for about 200 years from the middle of the sixth century, these temples are famous for their splendorous Shivaratri celebrations. "At Alampur alone, the Chalukyas built nine temples for Navabrahmeswara and Jogulamba," said Dr D. Subramanyam, the retired deputy director of the state archaeology department.

The three Sakthi Peethas in the state, which form part of the 18 Sakthi Peethas in the Indian sub-continent, are also being renovated. They are the Brahmarampa temple at Srisailam, Jogulamba Devi temple at Alampur and Peethapuram temple in East Godavari. The director of the department of archaeology, Dr P. Chenna Reddy, said that the Narasimha Swamy temple at Bussapur, Shiva temples at Jakaram and at Reddygudi, and the Ghanpur group of temples were also being restored.

"There are 200 Buddhist and other heritage sites in the state and work is on to restore all of them," said an official. "Restoration of the Satavahana period sites such as Dulikatta in Karimnagar and Chandavarai in Prakasam are on as well." Once restored, all these religious sites are expected to attract more pilgrims.

Curse of pollution

Hyderabad, Nov. 24: The rising pollution level is taking a heavy toll on the heritage structures and historical artefacts in the state. In the old city area, near Charminar, sulphur dioxide levels have increased from 5.2 to 5.4 micrograms per metre cube and nitrogen oxide levels from 34 to 36.3 micrograms per metre cube.

Meanwhile, pollution from the Musi River is also affecting paintings, sculptures and other artefacts kept in the Salar Jung Museum. Pollutants such as sulphur dioxide mix with atmospheric moisture to form sulphuric acid. This causes discolouration of marble and paintings. Hydrogen sulphide and nitrogen oxides cause accelerated deterioration of exposed stoneworks.

"Hydrogen sulphide can blacken artefacts and high humidity levels can cause bubbles and blisters on art works," said Mr Mahim Kumar Chatterji, a conservator at the Salar Jung. The museum director, Dr A.N. Reddy, said steps are being taken to protect artefacts from pollution.