School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Sunday urged the public to protect the remaining historical monuments in the State as they depicted our cultural heritage.
Delivering the Kalki Sadasivam Memorial Lecture on ‘Historical monuments, National Heritage,' he said that historical monuments were not confined to temples alone. Palaces, forts, epigraphs, coins, drawings, architecture, wells and sculptures also came under the category.
“While palaces in north India have survived and are there to showcase the historical events of the past rulers, we don't have such evidence in Tamil Nadu. These monuments have survived for over 2,000 years but have gone missing only in the last 50 years or so due to encroachment, granite quarrying and construction of dwelling units near the temples and collapse of fort walls,” he said.
The Minister also said most of the sculptures in historic temples and tourist places had been damaged by vandals and inscribed bronze idols had been taken out of the country. He also expressed concern over the epigraphs vanishing during construction of additional facilities in old temples and mindless applying of fresh coat of paint during renovation.
“In today's competitive world, we have to preserve the monuments and showcase them to the next generation as the contributions or achievements of our ancestors,” he said.
Mr. Thennarasu distributed the Kalki Sadasivam Memorial Award of Rs.10,000 to Takewing Communication for its creative advertisement and financial aid of Rs.5,000 each to five students from the economically weaker section to pursue their studies.
