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ARCHAEOLOGY: BUDDHIST SITES
Glaring Official Apathy
The Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI) has a better track record in care and protection
than DAM as it has fewer sites to look after and, therefore, spends its
meagre funds more effectively. But that has not deterred the thieves.
They took away a 2.12-m-tall statue of the Buddha from Ghantasala in Krishna
district on November 29 last year. It was among the 78 pieces that were
to be housed in a small museum coming up in front of the remains of a
Buddhist stupa-a grass mound found there in 1871. It did not help that
the site is in the heart of the village which also has a police station.
"Our warning to shift the Chandavaram collection
to the district headquarters Ongole was ignored," says Prakasam District
Superintendent of Police Kumar Vishwajeet. He does not rule out the involvement
of an organised smugglers' gang. "Repeated raids by a gang suggest
the influential backing of political party activists and the collusion
of local officials," argues Congress legislator P. Govardhan Reddy
from Munugode. The lacklustre efforts at tracing the culprits fuels speculation
about politicians shielding if not actually helping the smugglers.
The official apathy comes at a time when efforts
are on to promote ethnic tourism. Only six of the 140-odd Buddhist sites
in Andhra Pradesh-Nagarjunakonda, Amaravathi, Sankaram, Jaggayapeta, Guntupalle
and Salihundam-are well conserved and only Nagarjunakonda has tourist
facilities. The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC)
plans to introduce a tourist circuit with Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Guntur
and Vijayawada as hubs. "There is tremendous potential because the
Buddha was one of the greatest human beings who ever lived and shaped
the course of human thought and belief," says C. Anjaneya Reddy,
managing director, APTTDC, confident about providing facilities at more
places within the year.
"These sites and artifacts are of immense
value to show how Buddhism soared to new heights in this region between
300 b.c. and 700 a.d. during the rule of the Mauryas, Satavahanas, Ikshvaku
and Vishnukundin kings," says Dr S.V.P. Halakatti, superintending
archaeologist, ASI. Fortunately for the cash-strapped state, the 11th
Finance Commission has provided it Rs 3 crore to conserve heritage sites.
Tourism authorities are also hopeful of getting financial help from Japan,
China, Taiwan and Thailand. Cashing in on the tourism potential without
recovering the stolen Buddhist treasure appears to be a tall order.
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