The World Heritage Week, celebrated globally to raise awareness about conservation of heritage, was kicked off in the city on Wednesday, with the Archaeological Survey of India putting up a special photography exhibition at the Qutub Minar showcasing rare archival material.
“These rare archival photographs have never been displayed before. The details about the conservation work can be seen through some of the photographs,” said ASI (Delhi Circle Officer) Vasant Kumar, adding that they had also arranged special visitor boards with new information about the 13 Century Minar, as well as important but lesser-known monuments that were in the vicinity.
“Most people who visit the Qutub Minar mostly forget or are not aware of the monuments nearby. We have also included maps of how to get to these monuments.”
Other popular monuments like the Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, Purana Qila and Jantar Mantar are also in the process of getting similar visiting boards with information and maps about nearby monuments.
INTACH will have students from 50 schools come together on Thursday for a talk on the city's history, followed by a painting competition.
“Historian Narayani Gupta will talk to them in the morning, after which the competition will be held. The theme is ‘Caring for Heritage’. And, with this in mind, the students have been asked to use only biodegradable and recycled materials to make their paintings or collages. They have also been asked to come up with slogans about conservation,” said the INTACH spokesperson for the event, Purnima Datt, adding that the children were mostly part of heritage clubs run by INTACH in their schools.
