The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has for the first time published guidebooks and brochures on the monuments of north-east India in Braille.
The four publications, which are in Braille, include a guidebook on the monuments of Sivasagar in Assam and brochures on monuments of Sonitpur district and four maidams (tombs) of the Ahom Kings at Charaideo in the same State.
Eight monuments of Tripura, including the Bhubhaneshwari Temple, and the rock carvings of Unakoti are featured in the fourth brochure.
“This is our first attempt to bring out Braille publications in north east India. The book on monuments of Sivasagar is also is also the first-ever guidebook to be published by ASI in Braille,” Milan Kumar Chauley, superintending archaeologist of Guwahati Circle, told The Hindu on Wednesday.
Of the 80 archaeological monuments in north-east India, the publication covers 30 prominent archaeological sites. Of them, 18 are at Sivasagar, eight in Tripura and four in Sonitpur.
The guidebook and the booklets were released as the part of World Heritage Week celebrations of the ASI’s Guwahati Circle by Governor of Assam P. B. Acharya at Raj Bhavan.
The publications are part of efforts to make the archaeological sites accessible and barrier-free for physically and visually challenged persons. Ramps and pathways for the physically and visually challenged are also being worked on, ASI officials said.
Distributed freeMr. Chauley said that the booklets were printed at the government press in Guwahati and those interested can collect them free of cost at the monuments or the headquarters of ASI’s Guwahati Circle.
The monuments in the booklets are of the medieval and late medieval periods. The four maidams (tombs) of the Ahom Kings at Charaideo was enlisted in the tentative list of World Heritage Sites in April 2014.
