If the State government has its way, one of the oldest archaeological departments in the country established in 1885 that raised the bar for excavation and conservation, may lose its identity or even cease to exist.
There is a proposal to merge the Archaeology Department fully with the Department of Tourism as part of the endeavour to restructure various branches of the government so as to ‘streamline’ the functioning and administrative procedure.
Senior officials in the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage told The Hindu that such a move was regressive in nature as the focus of tourism was revenue generation through leisure activities and destination marketing while the objectives of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage was academic in nature given to exploration, excavation and conservation.
The Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage was taken out of the purview of the Ministry of Kannada and Culture two years ago and tagged along with the Tourism Ministry, as the latter had more funding. However, it retained its identity as a separate department. But the present move is to fully merge it with Tourism Ministry as a result of which the 135-year-old Archaeology Department, will cease to exist as a separate entity, according to the officials.
“Any future research publication will have the imprint of Department of Tourism and not Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage and hence will lack academic gravitas,” said officials opposed to the merger.
Devarakonda Reddy, president, Karnataka Itihasa Academy, said they are not only opposed to the merger but want the Archaeology Department to be attached and tagged with Department of Kannada and Culture as it was until two years ago. “The proposed merger has more to do with revenue issues rather than promoting academic excellence and conservation,” said Dr. Reddy.
The department under B.L. Rice, R. Narasimhachar, and M.H. Krishna brought out the antiquity of Karnataka history and culture and with it a slice of Indian history, to the rest of the world. It is unthinkable that such a department will have no independent existence, he added.
N.S. Rangaraju, an academician and former Dean, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore, said the academic exercise of archaeology cannot be clubbed with tourism. “A megalithic burial site will excite the archaeologists as it will stretch the history of the place by a few centuries. But it will mean little to a person heading the Tourism Department,” said Prof. Rangaraju.
B.L. Rice, the first director of the department, brought out Epigraphia Carnatica and published 9,000 inscriptions in 12 volumes. Subsequently, the department undertook major exploration and excavation works in Talakadu, Hampi, Sannati, and Annigeri, all of which helped trace the antiquity of the State’s history and culture, according to Prof. Rangaraju, who sought the continuation of State Archaeology Department as an independent entity.
The department is credited with the discovery of Ashokan inscription in 1891 at Brahmagiri dating to 250 B.C. which helped establish the southern limits of the Mauryan empire. Such endeavours including publication of inscriptions, archaeological reports, etc., will take a backseat under the Department of Tourism, said the scholars opposed to the merger.
