‘ASI Outside India’ opened

On Saturday, the Museum Auditorium resembled an actual museum. With large boards stretching from floor to ceiling and illuminated by overhead yellow lamps, each section carried details of the excavation and preservation activities taken up by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in various foreign countries.

The photo exhibition, ‘ASI Outside India,’ inaugurated on Saturday by T.K.A. Nair, Adviser to the Prime Minister, is part of the organisation’s year-long series of programmes to mark its 150 year of existence.

Director General of the Centre for Heritage Studies M.G.S. Narayanan delivered the keynote address.

Mr. Nair lauded the efforts of the ASI within and outside the country.

He said that the fact that ASI was being invited to work in locations such as Egypt that were noted world-over for their heritage was a matter of great pride. He lamented the lack of attention given to the achievements of the organisation in Kerala.

Prof. Narayanan spoke of the interest the field evoked in foreign countries but said such an interest was lacking back home.

“We have not been able to generate the same interest and it is to a certain extent the fault of the ASI and to some extent the fault of the politicians after Independence,” said Prof. Narayanan.

In each section, the first panel offered a brief history of the place and the ties India shared with the respective nation. Photographs of the sites, before and after excavation work was undertaken by the ASI, were also on display.

Photographs of ASI’s work in Egypt, Nepal, Bahrain, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Bamiyan in Afghanistan, Ananda Temple in Myanmar are on display, in addition to proposals in the pipeline involving monuments in Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

The World Heritage Series books that contain details about the sites within the country are on sale at 40 per cent discount.

The exhibition will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. till August 24.