Seminar on intangible cultural heritage of Sikkim inaugurated
‘Govt is putting best effort to preserve both tangible & intangible heritages of Sikkim
Sikkim Express | www.sikkimexpress.com
GANGTOK, July 23: The State Cultural and Heritage Affairs Secretary DR Kharel today inaugurated two days long seminar on intangible cultural heritage of Sikkim here at Nepali Sahitya Parishad.
Organized by Sikkim Akademi, the seminar is organized mainly to generate awareness on intangible heritage amongst the students.
On the first day of the seminar, Sonam Gyatso Bhutia presented a paper on Kagyed Dance, KN Sharma on Maghey Sankranti and Dr SK Rai on Sakewa and Sili.
Likewise the papers on Maruni and Pang Lhabsol were presented by Dr Pushpa Sharma, Parasamani Dangal and Kunzang Namgyal.
Hari Maya Pradhan spoke on the topic of Kwanti Purnima.
The Secretary in his address said that the State Government is putting best effort to protect and preserve both tangible and intangible heritages of Sikkim. He said the government has also been preserving the historical heritage sites of Sikkim such as the oldest monasteries of Sikkim.
Earlier, Sikkim Akademi president Sanu Lama said there is a need to understand the importance of both the tangible and intangible heritages as it reflects the history, tradition and the diversified culture of Sikkim.
On the second day of seminar, the resource persons will present their papers on Teej, Dzumsa, Guru Poornima, Bumchu, Bonpo and Sawney Sankranti.
HERITAGE WORLDWIDE... e newsletter.. on Heritage activities Worldwide.....inspired by my association with INTACH-Sikkim Chapter...Editor: S.K.Sarda........... You can mail news on Heritage to: topintown_sikkim@yahoo.com for publication.
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Thursday, 17 June 2010
INTACH GIVEN BIGGER ROLE
by Serish Nanisetti
A new law that makes government officials responsible for protection of national monuments and gives Intach a key role, sets stage for preservation of heritage. Serish Nanisetti discovers more
On March 30, the President signed into Act a game-changing law to protect Indian heritage. A slew of sections have been added onto the 1958 Act to give teeth to officialdom and protect national heritage.
Hyderabad has two sites of national importance Charminar and Golconda. Will this law help protect at least these sites?
“Yes. This Act goes a long way in helping protect our heritage. Once the National Monuments Authority is created it will have an on-field staff that will make a difference. We are getting NRSA satellite imagery to mark out the contours, 1992 position and the mandated 100 metres of protected area and 200 metres of regulated area,” says T. Sreelakshmi of ASI with a caveat: “Unless the public is aware and alert and political leaders, those who pull strings from behind the screen, stop their stalling tactics, we will be helpless. But this law does remove a lot of loopholes,” says Sreelakshmi.
A drive around Charminar and Golconda show that it might be some time before the law has its desired effect. If the civic authorities have just stopped their digging for pipeline and cables around the monument, across the road, efforts are underway to create more space in the centuries old Jama Masjid.
And around Golconda, the series of lakes which formed protective structures for the fort are being filled up. Residential construction activity is going on apace. Outside Habshi Kaman, is the blue and white signboard that still says that punishment for disfiguring national heritage is a fine of Rs 5,000 and three months jail sentence, while the new Act has raised the fine to Rs. 1 lakh and the jail sentence to two years.
All these create a doubt about the efficacy of the Act. But hope springs eternal from the Act and the fact that even a permission to organise an event within a national monument has to come from the Director-General's office in Delhi. The power of the Act can gauged from the fact that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra had to call up the Prime Minister for seeking a permission for a celebratory event in the Raigad fort.
No more secret hanky-panky, any permission or refusal has to be posted on the website of ASI.
Besides creation of National Monuments Authority, the Act brings into its ambit Intach and its army of conservationists who have been tasked to frame heritage bye-laws for each national monument.
The insertion of Section 30C is what truly gives the Act its overarching power: “… any officer of Central Government enters into or acquiesces in any agreement to do, abstains from doing, permits, conceals or connives in any act or thing whereby any construction or reconstruction takes place in a prohibited area or regulated area, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.”
Cutting out all excuses, the law covers the army of officials who work as foot soldiers for allowing heritage go to seed. “This is what is making officials think twice. And they cannot even say they were ignorant of the law,” says Sreelakshmi sounding optimistic about protection of heritage.
the hindu
by Serish Nanisetti
A new law that makes government officials responsible for protection of national monuments and gives Intach a key role, sets stage for preservation of heritage. Serish Nanisetti discovers more
On March 30, the President signed into Act a game-changing law to protect Indian heritage. A slew of sections have been added onto the 1958 Act to give teeth to officialdom and protect national heritage.
Hyderabad has two sites of national importance Charminar and Golconda. Will this law help protect at least these sites?
“Yes. This Act goes a long way in helping protect our heritage. Once the National Monuments Authority is created it will have an on-field staff that will make a difference. We are getting NRSA satellite imagery to mark out the contours, 1992 position and the mandated 100 metres of protected area and 200 metres of regulated area,” says T. Sreelakshmi of ASI with a caveat: “Unless the public is aware and alert and political leaders, those who pull strings from behind the screen, stop their stalling tactics, we will be helpless. But this law does remove a lot of loopholes,” says Sreelakshmi.
A drive around Charminar and Golconda show that it might be some time before the law has its desired effect. If the civic authorities have just stopped their digging for pipeline and cables around the monument, across the road, efforts are underway to create more space in the centuries old Jama Masjid.
And around Golconda, the series of lakes which formed protective structures for the fort are being filled up. Residential construction activity is going on apace. Outside Habshi Kaman, is the blue and white signboard that still says that punishment for disfiguring national heritage is a fine of Rs 5,000 and three months jail sentence, while the new Act has raised the fine to Rs. 1 lakh and the jail sentence to two years.
All these create a doubt about the efficacy of the Act. But hope springs eternal from the Act and the fact that even a permission to organise an event within a national monument has to come from the Director-General's office in Delhi. The power of the Act can gauged from the fact that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra had to call up the Prime Minister for seeking a permission for a celebratory event in the Raigad fort.
No more secret hanky-panky, any permission or refusal has to be posted on the website of ASI.
Besides creation of National Monuments Authority, the Act brings into its ambit Intach and its army of conservationists who have been tasked to frame heritage bye-laws for each national monument.
The insertion of Section 30C is what truly gives the Act its overarching power: “… any officer of Central Government enters into or acquiesces in any agreement to do, abstains from doing, permits, conceals or connives in any act or thing whereby any construction or reconstruction takes place in a prohibited area or regulated area, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.”
Cutting out all excuses, the law covers the army of officials who work as foot soldiers for allowing heritage go to seed. “This is what is making officials think twice. And they cannot even say they were ignorant of the law,” says Sreelakshmi sounding optimistic about protection of heritage.
the hindu
Friday, 25 September 2009
Ministry of Culture
National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities and its Initiatives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:31 IST
The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities has been launched with the major objectives to prepare National Register and set up state level database on built heritage, sites and antiquities, promote awareness and sensitize people about such heritage, extend facility for capacity building and help in synergizing between various organizations on heritage issues. The Mission has completed two years on March 19, 2009 with Archaeological Survey of India as its nodal agency.
Initiatives
• With a view to create to the National Register on built heritage and sites, National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities is compiling relevant information as available from secondary sources. So far more than 32,000 villages containing information on unprotected built heritage and sites have been compiled in the template developed by the Mission.
• The Mission has taken up the work of digitization of records of registered antiquities through Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts that would form finally the database of antiquities.
• The documentation of antiquities as part of National Register in a prescribed template developed by the Mission is in progress. Presently the antiquities that are lodged in various site museums and sculpture sheds of Archaeological Survey of India have been taken up for documentation.
• Indian Archaeology- A Review, an Archaeological Survey of India publication that contains invaluable information on built heritage, sites and antiquities have been digitized by the Mission and placed in public domain through the official website of Archaeological Survey of India. Besides, various antiquarian legislations of different states are being uploaded on ASI website to make them available to the public.
• The Mission is developing softwares through NIC on the various templates that have been prepared by the Mission for creating database on built heritage and sites as compiled from secondary sources, centrally protected monuments, web-based village level database.
To implement the various activities of the Mission on state level, Implementation Committees have been formed (so far about 20) under the chairmanship of the respective State Secretary (Culture).
AD/DB
National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities and its Initiatives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:31 IST
The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities has been launched with the major objectives to prepare National Register and set up state level database on built heritage, sites and antiquities, promote awareness and sensitize people about such heritage, extend facility for capacity building and help in synergizing between various organizations on heritage issues. The Mission has completed two years on March 19, 2009 with Archaeological Survey of India as its nodal agency.
Initiatives
• With a view to create to the National Register on built heritage and sites, National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities is compiling relevant information as available from secondary sources. So far more than 32,000 villages containing information on unprotected built heritage and sites have been compiled in the template developed by the Mission.
• The Mission has taken up the work of digitization of records of registered antiquities through Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts that would form finally the database of antiquities.
• The documentation of antiquities as part of National Register in a prescribed template developed by the Mission is in progress. Presently the antiquities that are lodged in various site museums and sculpture sheds of Archaeological Survey of India have been taken up for documentation.
• Indian Archaeology- A Review, an Archaeological Survey of India publication that contains invaluable information on built heritage, sites and antiquities have been digitized by the Mission and placed in public domain through the official website of Archaeological Survey of India. Besides, various antiquarian legislations of different states are being uploaded on ASI website to make them available to the public.
• The Mission is developing softwares through NIC on the various templates that have been prepared by the Mission for creating database on built heritage and sites as compiled from secondary sources, centrally protected monuments, web-based village level database.
To implement the various activities of the Mission on state level, Implementation Committees have been formed (so far about 20) under the chairmanship of the respective State Secretary (Culture).
AD/DB
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
NEPAL: A blend of Hindu and Buddhist tastes
Posted by barunroy on September 8, 2009
FROM THE STATESMAN
One of the finest specimens of Nepalese architecture, Changu Narayan beckons heritage tourists, says Swaati Chaudhury
ARE you all for heritage tourism? Then let your wanderlust take a flight to the mesmerising Kathmandu Valley. Snuggled in Nepal’s Bhaktapur district, Changu Narayan is a widely known heritage site and perhaps the earliest pilgrim destination of the valley. When we had embarked on a tour to the Nepal Himalayas, we had a chance to visit the idyllic hill resort of Nagarkot. After a breathtaking glimpse of the sunrise at Nagarkot, we decided to travel to the historical town of Patan. Call it a stroke of luck or God’s wish, the road blockade agitation stirred up by the Maoists in Kathmandu compelled us to scrap our trip to Patan.
We set out to explore Changu Narayan, a significant religious and historical landmark of the country. The monument on the hilltop is around six km from Bhaktapur and nearly 18 km from Kathmandu. At a height of about 1,541 metres, Changu Narayan is an example of one of the finest specimens of Nepalese architecture whose origin can be traced to the 3rd century AD. The monument has a great significance in artistic, religious, cultural and historical terms. Changu Narayan provides an incredible view of the whole valley. The lane that leads to the shrine is crowded with souvenir shops and workshops selling an array of wooden masks of gods and goddesses and other handmade curios that lure tourists; these are good for walk-in customers. We also came across a string of Thangka School of paintings that have flourished in the region since antiquity. The present shrine complex was earlier infested with dense groves of Champak trees. Changu derives its name from Newari signifying “Champa” flowers. Once well known as Dolagiri, Dolaparvat, Dolashikar, Champakaranya and Champapur Mahanagar, Changu was a metropolitan city in medieval times teeming with residential establishments.
We entered the shrine. The complex serves as a huge repository of prominent sculptures and we opted for a walk around the other monuments. There is the “Garuda” — the flight vehicle of Lord Vishnu and the famed historical stone pillar with inscriptions engraved on it in the pro-Licchivi script — the most ancient script of the valley. It is indeed a highly valuable collection. The most interesting monument, however, was the small shrine of Chhinnamasta representing female force that stands at the south east end of Changu Narayan — the oldest structure in the complex. We gazed in rapt attention at the marvellous and timeless wonders around the Changu Narayan complex, the frieze of carvings hanging on the outer walls that have been brilliantly crafted on wood, stone and metal.
We moved towards the main shrine that has huge gold-plated doors bearing intricately carved Hindu pantheons. The pagoda-styled shrine soaring 45 metres in height is devoted to Lord Vishnu. The monumental shrine was built in the 17th century and draws both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims.
Once our visit to the shrine was over, we opted for a view of the nearby Changu Museum. Set up in a private residence, the museum has preserved relics of the bygone period including musical instruments, weapons, earthenwares and metal works. There are age-old coins dating back to the royal dynasties of Nepal from the times of King Tribhuvan to Mahendra and Birendra to Gyanendra.
For travellers wanting to make a visit to Changu Narayan, there are accommodations available like the Changu Cottage Guest House and Farmer’s Home.
Posted by barunroy on September 8, 2009
FROM THE STATESMAN
One of the finest specimens of Nepalese architecture, Changu Narayan beckons heritage tourists, says Swaati Chaudhury
ARE you all for heritage tourism? Then let your wanderlust take a flight to the mesmerising Kathmandu Valley. Snuggled in Nepal’s Bhaktapur district, Changu Narayan is a widely known heritage site and perhaps the earliest pilgrim destination of the valley. When we had embarked on a tour to the Nepal Himalayas, we had a chance to visit the idyllic hill resort of Nagarkot. After a breathtaking glimpse of the sunrise at Nagarkot, we decided to travel to the historical town of Patan. Call it a stroke of luck or God’s wish, the road blockade agitation stirred up by the Maoists in Kathmandu compelled us to scrap our trip to Patan.
We set out to explore Changu Narayan, a significant religious and historical landmark of the country. The monument on the hilltop is around six km from Bhaktapur and nearly 18 km from Kathmandu. At a height of about 1,541 metres, Changu Narayan is an example of one of the finest specimens of Nepalese architecture whose origin can be traced to the 3rd century AD. The monument has a great significance in artistic, religious, cultural and historical terms. Changu Narayan provides an incredible view of the whole valley. The lane that leads to the shrine is crowded with souvenir shops and workshops selling an array of wooden masks of gods and goddesses and other handmade curios that lure tourists; these are good for walk-in customers. We also came across a string of Thangka School of paintings that have flourished in the region since antiquity. The present shrine complex was earlier infested with dense groves of Champak trees. Changu derives its name from Newari signifying “Champa” flowers. Once well known as Dolagiri, Dolaparvat, Dolashikar, Champakaranya and Champapur Mahanagar, Changu was a metropolitan city in medieval times teeming with residential establishments.
We entered the shrine. The complex serves as a huge repository of prominent sculptures and we opted for a walk around the other monuments. There is the “Garuda” — the flight vehicle of Lord Vishnu and the famed historical stone pillar with inscriptions engraved on it in the pro-Licchivi script — the most ancient script of the valley. It is indeed a highly valuable collection. The most interesting monument, however, was the small shrine of Chhinnamasta representing female force that stands at the south east end of Changu Narayan — the oldest structure in the complex. We gazed in rapt attention at the marvellous and timeless wonders around the Changu Narayan complex, the frieze of carvings hanging on the outer walls that have been brilliantly crafted on wood, stone and metal.
We moved towards the main shrine that has huge gold-plated doors bearing intricately carved Hindu pantheons. The pagoda-styled shrine soaring 45 metres in height is devoted to Lord Vishnu. The monumental shrine was built in the 17th century and draws both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims.
Once our visit to the shrine was over, we opted for a view of the nearby Changu Museum. Set up in a private residence, the museum has preserved relics of the bygone period including musical instruments, weapons, earthenwares and metal works. There are age-old coins dating back to the royal dynasties of Nepal from the times of King Tribhuvan to Mahendra and Birendra to Gyanendra.
For travellers wanting to make a visit to Changu Narayan, there are accommodations available like the Changu Cottage Guest House and Farmer’s Home.
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