EVENTS

Millennium at Khajuraho

A major effort is launched to showcase and put in perspective the legacy of the temple town of Khajuraho.

LALIT SHASTRI
in Khajuraho

IT is celebration time at the temple town of Khajuraho, the capital of the medieval Chandella kings, in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. President K.R. Narayanan launched on March 6 the year-long Khajuraho Millennium festival in a high-profile event. The main objective of the festival is to revive and showcase, through research, documentation and composition of new repertoires by artists, the cultural heritage of the tourist destination of central India in order to make it relevant to the present generation. President Narayanan described the celebrations as a landmark event in the cultural history of India. He saluted the thousand-year-old architectural splendour of Khajuraho observing that the clutch of temples had for centuries provided aesthetic joy and spiritual exaltation to millions of Indians and wonder and delight to the whole world.

The inaugural event, held at the picturesque Sivasagar lake, was conceived in keeping with the spirit of the process of globalisation (details of the Millennium show were provided online). A select group of high-profile Indians and persons from abroad were invited. The event began with the traditional blowing of the conch. A colourful tableau on a floating raft depicted symbols of the Chandella dynasty. The events climaxed with the rendition of the theme song by India's leading fusion band, Indian Ocean, with the silhouettes of Khajuraho's famed temples providing the backdrop. The President lit the lamp marking the inauguration of the Khajuraho Dance Festival, the annual festival of classical dance organised by the Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad.

The first lady, Usha Narayanan, who released an anthology on Khajuraho published by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, said: "Even though we are an ancient civilisation, the beauty and aesthetics of civilised life is something we have to search for in our daily struggle for survival." She asserted that "we have not yet fully succeeded in making our people take pride in our culture," adding that instead of realising the greatness of India's culture and heritage, Indians tended to undermine their importance.

BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
President K.R. Narayanan with First Lady Usha Narayanan outside the Kandariya Mahadeva temple, one of the largest of Khajuraho's temples, on March 6.

No nation could forge ahead without taking pride in its own cultural heritage, she said, describing the temple complex as a monument to the celebration of life in all its complexity - from the mundane to the sublime.

THE magnificent edifices in Khajuraho, built during A.D. 950-1050, were lost in dense forests and were discovered in the last century. Between 1852 and 1885, Alexander Cunningham, after a survey, submitted a detailed report describing the inscriptions, mounds and images that were found. But it was only when India's first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, visited Khajuraho that the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) began clearing the forest, fencing the area and restoring the temples. In 1969, the foundation of the first modern hotel was laid in Khajuraho; simultaneously the place was provided an air link by Indian Airlines. Today there are several hotels at Khajuraho, luxury hotels and hotels meant for the budget traveller. The rush of tourists gives one the impression that the benefits of the tourism industry in Khajuraho have percolated down; however, the life of the local people and the residents of neighbouring villages presents a less comfortable picture.

Villages in the area are inhabited by marginal farmers. The Indian National Trust for Art, Culture and Heritage (INTACH), in collaboration with the organisation, Development Alternatives, had submitted to the Madhya Pradesh Government in December 1997 a proposal for "Sustainable Development Strategy for Khajuraho". Subsequently the Khajuraho Planning Team was constituted with professionals in environment and landscape planning, heritage conservation, infrastructure development and tourism planning with an overall perspective of sustainable development. The team was supported by advisers and a technical review committee set up by INTACH. An executive summary which came out of this initiative pointed out that although agriculture was the predominant occupation in the region, it did not help provide enough employment to the youth who were gradually moving towards non-farm activities. The team suggested the supply of processed and semi-processed farm products to the tourism industry in addition to the starting of travel and tourism related services. It also identified income generating opportunities based on traditional skills and crafts, such as bamboo crafts, pottery, carpentry and goldsmithy.

Tourism is the next important contributor to the local economy. Fresh assessments have indicated that over the next six years the entire Khajuraho Heritage Region will host double the number of tourists currently visiting the town, 2.3 lakhs a year. Union Minister for Communications Jagmohan, who attended the celebrations, said that special care should be taken to ensure that the huge resources generated through tourism are not cornered by the travel trade industry. He said the revenue should be utilised to help improve the quality of life of the common people.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh told mediapersons after the inaugural function that an integrated plan was being launched for the all-round development of Khajuraho. He said that the emphasis was not only on the conservation of the temple complex but also on the integrated development of Khajuraho and its surrounding areas. He admitted that the roads to Khajuraho were in poor shape but maintained that there had been some improvement in the road link between Jhansi and Khajuraho. The State Government was giving priority to the Bhopal-Sagar-Chhatarpur road, he said.

Digvijay Singh said that the Khajuraho Millennium celebrations would provide an opportunity to present before the world a new picture of Khajuraho and its legacy. He hoped that the understanding of the beauty of the temple town would not be restricted to its erotic sculptures.

Later, in an interview to Frontline, Digvijay Singh said that while the beginning of a new millennium was being celebrated throughout the world, Khajuraho was the only heritage site celebrating its millennium simultaneously.

Reflecting on his plans and vision for Khajuraho, he said: "The Government is concerned not only about the conservation of the temples but about improving the quality of life of the people living in Khajuraho and creating the right kind of environment for the sustainable development of the area." The objective, he said, was integrated development.

Tourism being an environment-friendly and labour-intensive industry, the Government was keen to develop the sector, he said. However, owing to a resource crunch it wanted more private initiative in this area, he added.

The Chief Minister stressed the need to provide the kind of ambience and facilities that would encourage tourists to stay for longer periods and spend more in Khajuraho. In this respect, he suggested conducted tours to the Panna National Park as also facilities such as a golf course, an amusement park and mahseer fishing in the Ken river that flows through the town. He said the handicrafts sector should be given an impetus to project the tribal and folk arts and crafts of the State.

Efforts would also be made to attract tourists visiting Khajuraho to other places of interest in the State, such as Maheshwar, Ujjain, Omkareshwar and Bastar, he said. Digvijay Singh said the State Government planned to provide a permanent air link between Bhopal and Khajuraho so that Sanchi and Bhimbetaka as well as Indore and Mandu could become part of an interesting tourist circuit along with Khajuraho.

On an ongoing debate whether to open casinos as a means to increase tourist income, he said this kind of destination needed a clientele different from that patronising other tourist spots. Khajuraho is a mature tourist destination, which needed highly trained guides to give the right kind of message regarding the real ethos behind the sculptures and the religious thought behind the building of these temples, he pointed out.

PRESIDENT Narayanan wound up his visit to Khajuraho by inaugurating on March 8 the Museum of Tribal and Folk Art. Madhya Pradesh has a rich tradition of tribal and folk arts. The Khajuraho Museum, established by the Madhya Pradesh Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, displays artefacts that form a "continuing tradition coming down from time immemorial and are quite akin to archaeological objects in their timelessness," according to Alok Shrivastava, Director of the State Archaeology Department. The President, who spent almost 80 minutes at the museum, wrote in the visitors' book: "I am delighted to see this Tribal Museum. It is a treasure house of the tribal art of Madhya Pradesh. It shows the genius of our tribal people flowering in beautiful art forms of daily use."