Recently, when Mulug district received one of the heaviest rains in recent memory, the Ramappa Temple in Palampet village stayed dry. The temple that has survived earthquakes, floods, and human depredations was not affected. “It is built on a higher ground so it was not affected. We took measures to drain the water that accumulated in the low-lying areas surrounding the temple,” informed an Archaeological Survey of India official.
But if the State had adhered to suggestions by the World Heritage Convention, the panic triggered by social media posts could have been avoided. In its decision to inscribe Ramappa Rudreshwara Temple, Unesco had asked for: “Finalising the integrated conservation and management plan as well as updating the tourism development plan, to integrate risk preparedness strategies, visitor management at festive events with overcrowding, and cautious assessment criteria for approving any additional visitor infrastructure in and around the property.”
The State government is yet to create an ‘integrated risk-preparedness strategy’ exactly one year after the temple was inscribed as a World Heritage Site. The State is expected to meet eight additional criteria by December 1, 2022. These include: “Creation of Palampet Special Area Development Authority, expanding the programmed conservation approach to other sites around the temple, a schedule and detailed methodology for the reassembly and conservation of Kameshwara Temple and undertaking capacity building for local community.” The State is expected to expand the boundary and buffer zone to place the Ramappa Temple in the wider context of the period to bring in the Ramappa Lake and other temples in the area.
“When we went to see the temple, work was going on to create flooring matching the architecture. There are no decent cafes or tourist kiosks or information to gain understanding of the site,” said a visitor from Hyderabad when asked about the experience.
For the agriculture village that is partially dependent on the tourist inflow, it has been a year of disappointment. Nothing has changed in the village. “There is no development. The roads are as they were. The tourist footfalls have not increased,” says P. Jyothi, who runs a small restaurant near the Ramappa Temple. Compounding the problem, the recent spell of heavy rain damaged stretches of the road that connects to Warangal-Eturanagaram Road.
