On the occasion of World Heritage Day, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya organised various programmes, starting with heritage walk at Islamnagar, the prelude to the princely State of Bhopal.
In this walk, more than 100 enthusiasts from various sects of life participated. They were guided through Chaman Mahal and Rani Mahal of Islamnagar by Prof Savita Raje (Professor, School of Planning and Architecture). On this occasion, Director, IGRMS, Prof Sarit Kumar Choudhuri was especially present. The participants of the heritage walk were gifted caps by Manav Sangrahalaya.
later, in the noon, a special visit to the ‘Bhopal Gallery’ of IGRMS was organised, where curators of the gallery explained the transformation of Bhopal from a Gond village to a princely State, under Mughal reign.
In the evening, Savita Raje delivered a lecture on ‘living architectural and landscape heritage of Bhopal’ at Avritti Bhawan. She started her lecture by explaining the origin of Bhopal’s upper lake (Bhoj Taal) and lower lake. Prof Raje described the three phases of establishment of princely State Bhopal. In the first phase, Dost Mohammad Khan established Islam Nagar in 16th century and later, the capital of Bhopal State shifted to Fatehgarh Fort by the side of upper lake. In the third phase, establishments like Gauhar Mahal, Shaukat Mahal, Moti Masjid, Sheesh Mahal, Iqbal Maidan and Sadar Manzil were established. She said, “We, Bhopalites, are fortunate that we live very close to our heritage”.
The evening was dedicated to youth of Bhopal where in ‘Aarohi’ young talents of Bhopal, Satyendra Singh Solanki (santoor) and Amir Khan (Sarod) performed at Veethi Sankul Indoor Auditorium. Solanki commenced his performance with Raag ‘Rageshri’ with aalap ‘Jhor Jhala’. later, he performed ‘Jab’ taal in Nibadh and Dhrut in Teen Taal. He was accompanied on tabla by Hitendra Dixit. Young Sarod player Amir Khan performed Raag ‘Durga’ in aalap ‘Jhor jhala’ and Madhyalay in Teen Taal and Dhrut Teen taal.