A two-day national seminar, ‘The Heritage Site of Khandagiri-Udayagiri: History, Conservation and Development’ organised by the Khandagiri Anchalika Bikash Parishad in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Travel and Tourism Management (IITTM), Bhubaneswar, concluded on November 22.
It was held coinciding with the World Heritage Week. Joining as chief guest at the valedictory function, former diplomat Abasara Beuria laid stress on the preservation of the old heritages of Bhubaneswar, which he described as a living city of 2,000 years. The Khandagiri-Udayagiri twin hills studded with cave monuments and other heritages of the city should not be compromised in the name of development, stated Beuria.
The other speakers said that the conservation measures taken by the Archaeological Survey of India and other allied organisations are not adequate and underscored the need for expeditious steps to save the monuments from decadence.
They also pointed out that the Ancient Monuments, Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment & Validation) Act 2010 should be strictly followed and encroachments inside and outside the heritage zones be removed; the caves should be protected from leakage of rain water; disfiguring of the monuments should be treated as cognizable offence and the offenders be punished heavily; steps should be taken for protection of monuments by engaging heritage guards; both the hills should be brought under one compound wall and restricted to vehicular traffic; there should be regular and organised collection and treatment of garbage and waste materials accumulated over the twin hills and outside it to maintain health, sanitation and aesthetics; the areas in and around the twin hills should be kept clean and green with locally acceptable indigenous tree species; hoardings and signage should be placed strategically; noise and vibrations caused due to various reasons should be allowed within the prescribed decibel limits; further research may be undertaken in the field of language of inscription, music, dance, drama, musical instruments, reflections of Odishan society, culture and such other aspects; tourist amenities in terms of accommodation, transport, food court, recreation, interpretation centre, etc should be developed; development in and outside the heritage zones should be environment, ecology and heritage friendly; an integrated vision document and road map may be prepared for integrated development of the twin hills and the adjacent areas, and a development authority may be constituted for the purpose.
They also said that the UNESCO may also be moved to declare the twin hills as a world heritage site and the Interpretation Centre constructed by the Odisha Tourism Department be made operational soon.
The function was presided over by Khandagiri Anchalika Bikash Parishad president Satyabrata Dash. Among others, Amiya Kumar Pattanayak, Debendranath Satapathy, Sundara Narayana Patro, Sarat Kumar lenka of IITTM, Jayakrishna Tripathy, lN Rout, Sasanka Rath, Corporators Aswini Sundaray and Dillip Kumar Majhi spoke.
Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda had inaugurated the seminar on November 21. It was presided over by MP Prasanna Kumar Patasani, while Mayor Ananta Narayana Jena was the guest of honour. Salil Mohanty, vice president, AMRI Hospital, also spoke. The inaugural function was followed by three technical sessions on history, culture, tourism, environment, ecology and conservation in which 25 research papers were presented.