By K Prabhakar & K Shyamala
A Heritage walk highlighting the rich historicity of Hyderabad’s past was held from Charminar to Chowmahalla Palace in the Old from 7 am to 8.30 am on April 18, Monday. Around 120 people including many activists, officials and heritage enthusiasts have participated in the stroll, named as Deccan Heritage Walk. Deccan Heritage Academy in association with Telangana Tourism department and ICOMOS organised the walk.
In the afternoon, a meeting cum orientation program was held at Tourism Plaza, Begumpet, to commemorate the World Heritage Day, also known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites is celebrated April 18. The topic was “Heritage Conservation and Tourism” organized by Deccan Heritage Academy in association with ICOMOS India (International Council on Monuments and Sites wing of India) with the support of TSTDC (Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation).
Tourism Minister V Srinivas Goud was the Chief Guest at the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that the main objective of organizing the Heritage Walk is to educate future generations about heritage and culture and make them responsible in preserving the heritage.
“Telangana has many heritage places and has a rich heritage. Golconda, Charminar, Paigah Palace, Chowmahalla Palace, etc. are very famous heritage places. It is a pride for the people of Telanganafor getting heritage status for Ramappa Temple,” said the minister.
Uppala Srinivas Gupta Chairman, TSTDC, was the Guest of honour and speaking on the occasion he said that there are many heritage sites like Charminar, Golconda, QutubShahi Tombs, Bhongir Fort, rivers like Krishna, Godavari in Telangana, attracting tourists from all over the world.
Gupta said Ramappa Temple got World Heritage Site status by the combined efforts of our CM KCR and Minister Srinivas Goud. Srinivas Gupta recounted many heritage sites in Telangana including Bhoodan Pochampally village, Yadadri temple and Buddha Vanam project in Nagarjuna Sagar, among others. Gupta hoped that the number of tourists to Telangana would go up in the coming days.
“TSTDC Department is planning to run AC buses, sleeper coaches from all the places of Telangana to reach the tourist places. Buses will be sent to the gated communities for the convenience of tourists. TSTDC always will come forward to support the developmental activities to enhance tourism in Telangana. We welcome the idea of conducting heritage walks, get-together meetings to promote and conserve heritage,” said Gupta.
Deccan Heritage Academy founder Veda Kumar Manikonda thanked the Tourism Department for their support in successful conduction of Heritage Walk conducted by Deccan Heritage Academy in association with ICOMOS India with the support of TSTDC.
He also appreciated the efforts of CM KCR whose continuous pursuance to bring significance to the heritage of Telangana since from the Formation of Telangana made it possible to get inscribed the 800 year old ‘Glorious Kakatiya Temple Ramappa in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List and to bring back the glory of Telangana on the world map.
Veda Kumar also applauded the Department of Heritage Telangana, TSTDC, special chief secretary of MA&UD Arvind Kumar, who took initiation for the renovation and protection of many heritage sites of Telangana, to safeguard the heritage.
Dr.Mohammed Safiullah, honorary MD, Deccan Heritage Trust requested the Government to conduct an International Food Festival to promote Hyderabadi cuisine. He praised KCR for his efforts to bring heritage tag for Ramappa temple and appealed to TSTDC to continue their efforts to bring heritage status to Thousand Pillar Temple and Qutub Shahi Tombs and many more in Hyderabad.
Madhu Vottery, Conservation Architect spoke on the Cultural Tourism and said that heritage is all about sharing the stories, which connects people, place and time..D.Satyanarayana, Curator, Tribal Museum spoke on the unexplored tourist places in Telangana.
Suryanarayan Murthy, Convenor, ICOMOS, South Zone spoke on the role of ICOMOS in conserving the heritage and on the importance of conservation of Architectural, Urban, Built Heritage etc.,
B.Manohar Rao, MD,TSTDC spoke on the rich history of the state’s tourism sector and several historical monuments and vibrant culture.
B Narayana, Deputy Director, Dept. of Heritage Telangana, spoke on the heritage, coins, archaeology, excavations, inscriptions of Telangana. A large number of heritage enthusiasts attended the orientation session.
(The writer Prabhakar is coordinator, Deccan Heritage Academy, Hyderabad, he can be reached on Mobile:8106721111 & Shyamala, his colleague)
