The Telangana government is all set to send its final dossier to the Central Government seeking UNESCO’s World Heritage Site status for the famed Ramappa temple in Warangal.
This was disclosed by B.V. Papa Rao, Advisor to the Telangana Government, while delivering a key note on ‘Telangana: A future for our past’, at the plenary of the conference on ‘Engaging Hyderabad with Conservation’ organised by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) at Salar Jung Museum here on Thursday.
The three-day conference that has attracted several scholars, archaeologists and conservation architects would discuss ways of engaging stakeholders in the process of conservation, in the backdrop of the massive conservation and landscape restoration work taken up at the Qutb Shahi Tomb complex by AKTC.
Mr. Rao spoke extensively about Telangana’s rich history and the steps being taken by the government to preserve the natural and the built heritage across the State by involving all the stakeholders.
He said once the Ramappa temple gets the world heritage site tag, an eco system will be created that will help in better preservation of other monuments in Warangal and in attracting tourists. Lamenting that several interesting facets of Telangana history still lay buried, he emphasised on fresh excavations.
Amareshwar Galla, internationally renowned conservationist shared his experience of working in various countries. Hyderabad city historian, Narendra Luther, highlighted how tourists who come to see heritage spent more number of days in the city and how tourism generated huge revenue and created jobs for local people.
B. Venkatesham, secretary, Tourism Department, emphasised on synergy between Government and stakeholders in preservation of monuments. Ratish Nanda of AKTC said the objective of conservation efforts at the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park was three-fold: conservation, ecological restoration and socio- economic development of the needy community groups.
