HYDERABAD: Months after UNESCO officials inspected the historic Ramappa Temple in Mulugu by for the World Heritage Site (WHS) tag, the long-drawn process has finally entered the last stage.
A few days back, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Archaeology Srinivas Goud reviewed the progress of the nomination and was apprised by the State heritage officials of the developments.
On February 13, a meeting was held between officials from Heritage Telangana, Archaeological Survey of India and Goud, where he was apprised about the developments in the various secondary projects that were proposed to be developed along with the Ramappa Temple.
The proposals include the creation and execution of an integrated tourist management plan in view of the Medaram Yatra in the vicinity. Other projects include sanctioning of an 80 feet road connecting the main road to the temple and so on.
The State government has also formally submitted the clarifications sought by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) for the temple. As Express had reported earlier, ICOMOS had found it strange that the Swayambhu Temple and Thousand Pillar Temple were not included in the contention for the WHS tag, despite it being nominated along with Ramappa Temple in the dossier.
ICOMOS had also sought clarifications regarding the ‘historic irrigation systems’ that were mentioned in the nomination dossier.
In the dossier, the State government had said that ‘Kakatiyan irrigation system were created near the catchment of the hills, forming an integral part of the temple environs.’
An official said after February 20, the ASI headquarters will submit the clarifications to the UNESCO. Following that, everything will be behind ‘closed-doors’ until the announcement of the results in July, an official said.
Located over 70 km away from Warangal, Ramappa is the only temple in the country known by the name of its sculptor rather than the presiding deity.
The temple was built during the reign of king Kakati Ganapathi Deva and is said to have been built using bricks that ‘can float on water’.
Clarifications submitted to ICOMOS
The State government has formally submitted the clarifications sought by the ICOMOS for the temple. It had also sought clarifications regarding the ‘historic irrigation systems’ that were mentioned in the nomination dossier.