Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi has submitted a proposal to the Centre seeking the setting up of the Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation in Mysuru.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the setting up of the Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation with the status of a deemed University under the Ministry of Culture while presenting the Budget for 2020-21 earlier this year.
On Tuesday, M.r Joshi tweeted that he had met the Finance Minister and submitted a proposal to set up the institute in Mysuru. “Once established, the institute will help conserve manuscripts and monuments”, he said. Mr Joshi was accompanied by Karnataka Minister for Tourism and Culture, C T Ravi.
Though the place for setting up the institute was not identified in her Budget speech, Ms Sitharaman said “Acquisition of knowledge in disciplines such as museology and archaeology is essential for collecting and analysing scientific evidence of such findings and for dissemination through high quality museums. Currently, lack of trained manpower is a handicap for both these disciplines. This also affects tourism”.
N.S Rangaraju, retired professor of History and Archaeology, University of Mysuru, said Mysuru was an ideal place for setting up such an institute with its rich history from Satavahana period through Gangas till as recent as Wadiyars.
Apart from the historical monuments in Mysuru and neighbouring Srirangapatna, Prof Rangaraju said there is archaeological evidence of a good number of agraharas along the banks of river Cauvery in the vicinity of Talakadu, T Narsipur and Somanathapura.
Megalithic iron implements, a Roman coin mould along with a kiln, besides other antiquities and pottery dating back to megalithic and neolithic ages were found in the Mysuru region, Prof. Rangaraju said. “We have a continuous history of temple architecture from the period of Gangas”.
Prof .Rangaraju, who is also a local convenor for INTACH, said there were more than 500 heritage structures in the region, including 100 that are more than a century old. Mysuru has 14 palaces and 24 museums, making it one of the best tourist destinations, attracting 82 lakh visitors in 2018 and 86 lakh in 2019. Also, Mysuru along with Srirangapatna had been declared as heritage city in 2004 by the then Chief Minister S.M. Krishna.
While the heritage structures had religious, secular architectural and military architectural representations, the city was well-planned with broad roads, a mature hospitality industry with all types of hotels and a good climate, making Mysuru an ideal destination for setting up the Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation.
