Threats to
Archaeological Sites and Suggestion to Generate Awareness among the People: A
Brief Communication
Introduction:
Archaeology is the primary source of
knowledge of evolution of primitive culture. In fact Archaeology is the only
sources to know the past human activities, when the written records are totally
absent. Simply It has been defined as the “Science of ancient remains” i.e.
tools, pottery, artifacts, monuments etc. Moreover, systematic and scientific
study of past remains (left by past human) considered it as ‘Science’. Science,
which brings out some absolute indisputable fact. All Archaeological site and
material spread over the surface and beneath the surface are invaluable; nevertheless
some Archaeological sites and monuments have been reached the verge of ending. The growth of mass tourism, natural
disasters, environmental degradation, rapidly increasing urbanization,
Religious conflicts are among many threats to archaeological sites and
heritage. They must be preserved and conserved and for that Education plays
very important role.
However,
it is the matter of debate whether our cultural heritage is being protected.
Are rules for protection and conservation being enforced? What are the hurdles? What the steps can be
taken to remove hurdles to protect archaeological sites and monuments. Whatever
problem is there we should understand it and try to resolve from the point of
view of economic interest, as well as cultural interest.
Through
this paper we are trying to enlighten the type of threats and solution to
preserve and conserve the Archaeological sites and monuments.
According to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological
Sites and Remains Act, 1958 charged the central/state Department of Archaeology
with responsibility for the protection of important cultural sites. Under the
Act, sites had been classified under three categories:
1) Monuments
of national importance which are protected by the Central Government;
2) Monuments
of religious or cultural importance which are protected by the State
government; and
3) Monuments
which are neither centrally nor state protected, but which are considered to be
an important part of cultural heritage.
Under the same Act, charged authorities are permitted to take suitable measures to ensure the preservation of protected sites and monuments under threat from misuse, decay or economic activity.
Above clauses say about only protected archaeological sites and monuments. But question arises for unprotected archaeological sites and monuments which are under threat. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), a private non- governmental organization (NGO) based in New Delhi, has estimated that there are 70,000- odd historical monuments in India. Other estimates put the figure at more than 100,000; Whereas Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) declares 5,000-odd monuments out of 70,000 as ‘protected monuments’. The ASI is solely responsible for those 5,000-odd monuments, but the rest of the monuments which are more than 50,000 in number, are completely unattended. The fate of unprotected monuments and sites is highly uncertainly.
Negligence:
Negligence is the one of the biggest
threat to protected as well as unprotected sites and monuments. If we see the
Delhi, capital of India there are eight such monuments, including Masjid Moth,
Lal Gumbad , Humayun’s Tomb and Khirki Mosque among others, are lying in a neglect
object according to ASI (Archaeological survey of India). These monuments are
under grave threat from garbage dumps emitting noxious gases. Tourists, who
enthusiastically come to visit Historic Monuments, are welcomed by mounds of
garbage and foul smell.
For example, a Lodhi era tomb which is unprotected monument based in New Delhi had been converted into living quarters for a family for three generations.
In March 2009, The times of India carried a story of encroachment of the Atgah Khan tomb located in the Nizammuddin dargah area of New Delhi has been used encroached by 12 families by INTACH. In December 2009, the print media broke a story on how the prtotected haveli of the great Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib was used to host a wedding reception.
Like protected sites there are many unprotected and unlisted sites and monuments such as Someshwar Temples and Manikgarh Fort in Chandrapur of Madhya Pradesh, and Tipu’s Fort in Shrirangapatanam, Mysore are neglected by government and civic body.
Theft and Smuggling: Smuggling is a very serious threat to ancient antiquities all over the world. If we look back into our history we will find that there are many political up and down in every part of the world including our country which led to looting and plundering of wealth and property. India has a long history of smuggling of antiquities e.g. robbery in ancient temples by Mahmud Ghazni and other Muslim invaders. Later on during the colonial period British officials has also sent precious artifacts, stones, sculptures and paintings to Great Britain. In present day scenario we find that a lot of sculptures and other artifacts are smuggled from various places of India because of the very high rate these antiquities have high demand in international market. Very recently the noble medal of Rabindranath Tagore has been stolen from the museum of Santi Niketan and till now it was not recovered. This is a very shameful act from our part. Such state of affairs is not only a national crime but also a cultural sin.
Demolition of archaeological Monuments: Unawareness
towards archaeological sites and antiquities led to the demolition of cultural
heritage. Because of the greed and profit builders build their construction on
ancient sites, stone crushers are set near hilly areas and ancient caves
consist of precious rock paintings were damaged by their economic activities.
If some how the basement and structure of temple or ancient monument is found
unearth in village area, the villagers usually take out the bricks, stones,
wood and other important things of that monument for the construction of their
own houses or they sell it. Villagers sometimes apply cement on sculptures and
monuments because of this act dating becomes difficult and often the its
historical importance get lost. Application of oil paint on the temple wall
sometimes destroys ancient wall painting. Application of sindur (vermilion) on
sculpture demolished their identity and it become very difficult to know
iconography character of that sculpture.
See the pathetic condition of 1,000-year-old Siva temple, protected by state government’s Archaeology Department based at Manambadi village neglected. Now it is facing the threat of demolition for expansion of a road under the Thanjavur-Vikkiravandi four-way project of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Temple is in pathetic condition. It’s vimana in a dilapidated condition and enveloped by creepers. The stone structure below the vimana, with intricate sculptures, and the sanctum sanctorum with a Siva lingam are intact.
Destruction by tourists: Cultural
heritage are important tourist spots for both national and international
visitors. Generally tourists who come to see the nation's heritage and
monuments celebrate picnic and parties there. Eating, drinking and other
activities are unlawful works which are performed. Tourists write their names
and address, spit on the walls of the monuments disrupt the nature of that.
This is a very shameful act. The activities of such literate fools brought our
cultural sites in danger.
See the photograph where we can see the grotesque things done by human being. You have seen the walls or the pillars of some old monuments being scribbled and scratched and have the most unwanted things written. In every Historic monument, we find such nonsense arts of some vile artists who do not know the value of cultural monuments but are on the verge of destroying them. People don’t aware the significance of beauty and don’t have the sense of respect towards cultural assets.
Encroachment:
Encroachment is also a big problem
because it is responsible for the demolition and destruction of archaeological
monuments and sites. Because of the increasing price of land, unavailability of
land and space crisis has brought archaeological sites in danger zone. Temple
lands are often being encroach by villagers and used for cattle grazing.
Builders are also capturing the archaeological areas and uprooted monuments.
This is the main problem in modern day. Many of the archaeological sites in
urban India are encroached by the public buildings and hotels. This often
condemned the beauty of the monument. Apart from it due to pollution and over
population of the cities led to the damage of the ancient monument. Example may
be given to Taj Mahal of Agra and Victoria Memorial Hall of Kolkata. The milky
white marble monuments are getting faded and becoming black due to the
pollution. Smoke release from the factories, oil refineries, cars and street
food stalls is the major cause of pollution. Now problem is becoming dangerous
because of the fast development of cities. Need a strong and systematic step to
tackle such type of problem.
We
found the latest example of encroachment threat of archaeological site in
Sisupalgarh, Bhubaneswar. On 24th June 2014 Express news service
published the pathetic condition of Sisupalgarh, 2,500- year-old fortified
settlement. Though it is protected site but there is no conservation plan for
it by ASI or State Government.
His
site excavated by B.B. Lal in 1948-50. The area was
spread over 562.68 acres of land, but today only 0.775 acres remain under ASI’s
control. While 40 to 45 acres is under State Government, the rest are private
land holdings. According to newspaper more than 2,000 buildings have come up
inside the fort area, violating norms of the Ancient Monuments and
Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010.
Many more structures have come up within 100-metre radius of the site, particularly
the 16 pillars of Sisupalgarh.
Same activity has been done in Chandrawati, ancient site of Udaipur. For an industrial corridor project some portion of land of Chandrawati site has been acquisition by railway department, where a railway line has been proposed.
Natural Disaster: Natural phenomenons come without knocking the door, when it comes, destroy everything. Catastrophic damages by earthquake, flood, cloud burst, heavy rainfall and volcano eruption or others disaster either loss of life or ruin of structural buildings. Flood in Srinagar, cloud burst in Uthrakhand,earthquake in gujrat, tsunahmi in Tamilnadu are few example of natural disaster which ruin life and our valuable cultural assets which never get back.
Archaeology
and Education:
As Archaeology has contributed a lot
to the history, culture and other social and life sciences, it has been
recognized as a reliable source of knowledge. In India, particularly, historic
archaeology has been related to the background of traditional norms of our
past. The reason is clear in terms of as set chronological documentation of
different historical periods. India has the quality of unity in diversity.
People belonging to various languages, religions, castes, colour, creed and
ethnic groups are living together in this land. Apart from it India possesses
long history. Our present political, social and economical conditions are
deeply rooted in the past. Hence, study of History is very important in India.
From primary level to the higher level of education, History is one of the
major subjects in Indian education. It is necessary for every child to know
about the country's past. Knowledge of history is not only useful to know about
the past, but it is also useful to solve present problems and ensure a bright
future. As we know History and Archaeology are closely related, problems in
country's history and causes of social- economical problems have generally been
investigated by archaeological researchers and scholars. It is very important
to train and educate children in matters related to archaeology and to generate
awareness among them in order to protect and preserve the national heritage.
Various aspects of our cultural
heritage like the major cultural traditions, their origin and present
significance must be included in the syllabus. The different types of rituals,
religious ceremonies and other traditions which were performed in the past
should be taught to the students at various levels of our education system in
an interesting manner. As we know that in Indian universities Archaeology is
considered under the subject matter of History whereas in America Archaeology
is taught as a subject matter of Anthropology. This diversification of subject
can also be formulated in India. The formulation of diversification of subjects
can also be introduced in India. Archaeology should link up with other
disciplines also. Archaeology is related to various other subjects. So, if this
subject is taught with the other subjects thin generally people get aware with
this subject. Environmental awareness, division of labour, division of social
responsibilities and ethical values are normally found in cultural tradition.
If the knowledge of cultural traditions and their origin would be given to the
students in scientific manner, then it will be useful to understand present
social, economic, religious and political scenario. The education approach
towards Archaeology should aim at:
a: Creation of awareness among the people.
b: Projection of archaeological findings to academic circles
and common people through popular media.
c: Historical treatment of cultural traditions.
d: Adaptation of
instructional measures.
e: A clear plan and vision for future research.
Archaeology today needs an educative
solution with a meaningful cause. Archaeology as a specialized subject is not
merely the issue of classroom study or limited up to books. it should be spread
to the masses informally and formally.
The education system today needs to be modified. There
should be a basic course of Archaeology at school level. There should be a
specialized course at university at Graduation level and the research oriented
course works at Post Graduation. The task of educating the student should be
limited to the teachers who were fully trained in excavation, exploration,
documentation, preservation and conservation.
In view for promoting archaeological researches a fruitful
planning is essential with joint ventures of Archaeological Survey of India,
University Grant Commission, State Archaeology Department, various research
organizations and institutions. Infact employment opportunities in the field of
archaeological investigations, tourism and heritage management should be
increased. Proper funding should be there to carry out such projects actively
and in scientific manner. There should be no administrative hurdles. Due to
lack of job opportunities students generally do not prefer to take up this
subject as their career. Now a day they run for the professional courses.
Hence, job opportunity must be there in the field of archaeology.
Suggestions:
In modern days a firm consciousness
in archaeology among all the classes and masses is necessary. Because of the
absence of this, many sites and remains are destroyed and shifted elsewhere
illegally simply due to ignorance. Such practices damage the multi dimensional
cultural heritage and national pride. Some suggestions are given below in order
to increase the awareness.
a: Active grass root level of
workers by offering them salary on voluntary basis for the protection, safe
guard and preservation of the archaeological materials. Similar services may
also assigned to many NGO's, self motivated organizations and motivated
persons.
b: There must be an effective communication between the
grass root workers and archaeological authorities.
c: Mass communication and information technology should work
to create such awareness among the people. Seminar, workshop may also be
conduct at various universities and social organizations. It may also include
display of exhibitions, dramas, films, websites or such other creative
programmes.
Conclusion:
In present scenario, throughout the
country threat to Archaeological sites and monuments has become serious problem. Despite the existence of legislation,
national policy and international conventions for preservation and conservation
of Archaeological sites and monuments but still damage and destruction are
routinely occurring because in our country the level of public awareness is low
towards archaeological monuments. For this government needs to introduce
Archaeology as a subject in preliminary level of education. People should know
the value of cultural heritage monuments since childhood because monuments
present who we are and where we come from. Thus, they will take interest and
make programmes for protecting invaluable monuments. Government and
Non-Government Organization should spread the awareness among the people
through regular workshops, interactive sessions, seminars, conferences and
media.
Furthermore, Government, Non-Government
organization and citizen of nation have to give much more attention to protect
cultural heritage monuments which are like grappling irons that bind one
generation to another.
Published in: 1. EUPHEUS (2015), Volume: 2, No. 2. ISSN: 2348-9774. (p. 67-71).
