Senior citizens provide critical inputs for site location

The ongoing pilot project on documentation of all unprotected monuments in Mysuru taluk has yielded significant results with over 100 sculptures recovered from the rural hinterland.

Launched by the State Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage, the project will help map and document the number of monuments in the taluk. Based on their importance, they will be added to the protected list.

Sources in the archaeology department said so far the team has completed mapping of monuments in two hoblis – Varuna and Jayapura.

“Work in Yelwal hobli is underway and the entire taluk will be covered within the next 15 days,” said C.N. Manjula, Assistant Director of the Department.

The pilot project seeks to ascertain the manpower, funds and time that will be required to complete the work. Once the department gets a broad idea of the scale and enormity of the task, it can take appropriate measures to expand the ambit and scope of the project to cover the entire State.

The three-member team heads for the field daily around 7 a.m. and it is their interaction with the village headmen that is proving to be critical. “Senior citizens and village elders are aware as to where a temple, stones with inscription or pillars are located. The younger generation is not well-versed with it. Based on the inputs from the senior citizens, we manage to reach the spot for an assessment and document the presence of artefacts,” said Ms. Manjula.

The project is the first of its kind in the State and will help to map both protected and unprotected monuments. The Karnataka State Archaeological Department has 844 protected monuments under its ambit and the list has not been revised in recent decades.

Officials believe if the new discoveries meet the criteria stipulated by the Archaeological Survey of India and the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities, they could be incorporated in the protected list.