Intach alarm over damage to Odisha heritage amid ‘beautification’ drive
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Act on preservation of historical monuments violated, buildings broken round Lingaraj temple
The controversy over the destruction of historical monuments across the Eleventh century Lingaraj Temple in Odisha’s capital Bhubaneshwar amid a State-sponsored redevelopment drive, spiralled with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) stating that irreparable damage had been performed to the temple and historical shrines round it.
The INTACH’s findings come shut on the heels of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urging the Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel to assist salvage and protect priceless historical structure.
The Odisha authorities’s Ekamra Kshetra beautification challenge is aimed toward creating area adjoining the Lingaraj Temple to accommodate round two lakh devotees anticipated to go to the temple for the pageant of Shivaratri in March. The area in entrance of the traditional temple can now barely accommodate 10,000 to 15,000 devotees.
Guidelines ignored
“We find that no standard guidelines have been followed by the project implementation authorities and excavating teams. Irreparable damage has been done to adjoining ancient shrines,” INTACH’s preliminary investigation says.
It identified that using heavy gear equivalent to bulldozers and earthmovers in a delicate zone, dotted with historical temples, was towards all norms.
Carvings destroyed
“This has resulted in massive damage to the invaluable decorative entities of this temple. We saw many carved stone pieces and blocks having fine stone works of the glorious Eastern Ganga era scattered all around the temple premises,” noticed INTACH.
According to the Trust, the Suka Sari temple precinct is without doubt one of the vital areas in Ekamra Kshetra that’s talked about in varied historical treatises like Ekamra Purana and Ekamra Chandrika.
“Demolition of the 700-year-old Shiva Tirtha Matha was also assessed. Except for a small 225 sq ft temple present inside the Shiva Tirtha Matha, everything has been razed and the stone blocks used to fill the plinths of the surrounding. The surviving temple is perched high on an earthen mound, and is prone to collapse. Moreover it is clear violation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR Act),” it stated.
Pointing out violations of the AMASR Act, Mr. Pradhan had additionally requested Mr Prahlad to ship a group for finishing up scientific cleansing of the two-acre land adjoining to the Suka Sari temple advanced.
Intervention by the ASI may stall the Naveen Patnaik authorities’s bold multi crore beautification programme.
The State authorities had earlier introduced a challenge to give a ‘facelift’ to the Eleventh-century Lingaraj Temple. The redevelopment is being taken up over 66 acres of land surrounding the temple. The authorities has proposed to spend greater than ₹700 crore for the temple challenge.
