National Seminar held in Khandagiri, Bhubaneswar

The two-day National Seminar ‘The Heritage Site of Khandagiri-Udayagiri: History, Conservation and Development’ organized by Khandagiri Anchalika Bikash Parishad in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Travel and Tourism Management (IITTM), Bhubaneswar held on November 21-22, 2014 was concluded today evening. Held at the IITTM coinciding with the world heritage week Mr. Abasara Beuria, former Indian Diplomat was the chief guest at the valedictory function. Heritage once lost is lost for ever. Significantly, the Khandagiri-Udayagiri twin hills studded with cave monuments is both man-made and natural. Bhubaneswar is a living city of more than two thousand years and heritage should not be compromised in the name of development, stated Mr. Beuria.

 The two-day seminar made some suggestions and recommendations and a few of those are-it is felt that the conservation measures taken by the Archaeological Survey of India and other allied organizations are not adequate and expeditious steps need to taken to save the monuments from decadence; ‘The Ancient Monuments, Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment & Validation) Act 2010’ should be strictly followed and encroachments inside and outside the heritage zones removed; the caves should be protected from leakage of rain water; disfiguring of the monuments should be treated as cognizable offence and the offenders 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 organized 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; the 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. The UNESCO may also be moved to declare the twin hills as a world heritage site. The Interpretation Centre constructed by the Odisha Tourism Department will make operational soon.

The function was presided over by Satyabrata Dash, President of the Khandagiri Anchalika Bikash Parishad. Among others who spoke on the occasion are Amiya Kumar Pattanayak, Debendranath Satapathy, Sundara Narayana Patro, Sarat Kumar Lenka of IITTM, Jayakrishna Tripathy, L.N.Rout, Sasanka Rath, Corporator Aswini Sundaray, and Corporator Dillip Kumar Majhi. Delegates made a visit to the twin hills for on-the-spot observation

Sj. Ashoka Chandra Panda, Minister, Tourism and Culture, inaugurated the seminar on 21^st November. It was presided over by Dr. Prasanna Ku. Patasani, Member of Parliament. Sj. Ananta Narayana Jena, Mayor, Bhubaneswar was the Guest of Honour. Dr. Salil Mohanty, Vice president of AMRI Hospital also spoke. Dr. Sadasiba Pradha, Prof. of History, Utkal University presented the Key-Note Address and he was felicitated. The inaugural function was followed by three technical sessions on history, culture, tourism, environment, ecology and conservation in which 25 research papers were presented.