VIJAYAWADA: Deputy Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, Mandali Buddha Prasad, stressed the need to piece together the fragmented history of Vijayawada to pass on the heritage of the city to future generations. Speaking after inaugurating a two-day national seminar on ‘Vijayawada Through the Ages’, held at the Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCVA) on Friday, he said, “There are places of historical significance in and around the capital region. “We need to comprehensively document the history of Vijayawada by integrating the segmented facts by culturally mapping the area”.
The Director of International Affairs of the University of Hyderabad, Aloka Parasher-Sen, in her keynote address, said that real history was in the historical consciousness of people, their experiences, relationship and institutions. “From purams, petas, patnams, the suffixes of the areas in this region transformed into the modern nagars and colonies. While this is a part of urbanisation, we need to document each locality of the city so that it becomes a singular voice, which tells (us about our) social, cultural and natural heritage,” she said.The Director General of Police, M Malakondiah, in his address said that there was a need to establish a museum in the capital region. To this, the Chief Curator of Amaravati Heritage Town, Amareswar Galla said that a detailed project report had been prepared by the State government, but there were a few constraints in moving forward.
Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner J Nivas, on the occasion, spoke on the pivotal role played by the Telugu language in preserving the State’s heritage. Director of Department of Language and Culture D Vizai Bhaskar, former mayor Jandhyala Shankar, veteran journalist Turlapati Kutumba Rao and others spoke on how the city had changed over the years.