UNESCO tag a wake-up call for Telangana govt
The Ramappa temple in Telangana’s Mulugu district is a poem in architecture. The UNESCO, recognising its grandeur, has accorded the much-coveted World Heritage Site status to it, the first in Telangana and the 39th in India. The 800-year-old Shiva temple, built during the reign of Kakatiya ruler Ganapati Deva, has withstood the vagaries of nature and stands tall even today. The use of lightweight bricks that can float on water in its construction continues to amaze even modern engineers. The intricate designs and the many sculptures of dancers (salabhanjikalu) speak a language of their own.
UNESCO, while granting the status, however, cautioned that when its team visits the temple in December, it should meet certain other requirements that for the time being it had ignored. The High Court, reacting first, took upon itself the responsibility of supervising the protection, conservation and restoration of the temple in accordance with UNESCO’s specifications even as the state government was getting its act together.
The state government’s record in conserving and protecting monuments is far from satisfactory. There are 137 buildings under its protection while the ASI takes care of eight monuments including Ramappa, Charminar and the Thousand Pillar temple in Warangal. The state government, in 2019, tried to pull down 150-yearold Errum Manzil Palace in Hyderabad for the construction of a new Assembly complex but the HC put its foot down firmly. Though Telangana had brought in the State Heritage Act in 2017, it is yet to constitute a full-scale state-level committee to decide if a monument merited the status of a heritage structure. The High Court, while dealing with a petition recently on the demolition of rock formations in Hyderabad, pulled up the government for the inordinate delay in the constitution of the committee. The ASI, for its part, does not have enough manpower or funds to restore or protect the monuments under its care. The new Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy, who hails from Telangana, has to rise to the occasion by giving the much-needed facelift to the monuments that are crying for attention. Let history live.