T’gana IT professionals to work for UNESCO heritage tag to ancient site

Hyderabad, Aug 27 : Inspired by the idea of Kakatiya Heritage Trust that succeeded in getting UNESCO World Heritage Site tag for the 12th century Ramappa Temple, Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA) plans to form a trust which will work for the preservation of 3000-year old Menhirs site at Mudumal in Narayapet district.

The proposed trust will make efforts to get UNESCO World Heritage Site for the ancient archaeological site.

The decision to form a trust comes after a delegation led by TITA global president Sundeep Makthala took up the issue of conservation of the site with Union Minister for Culture G.Kishan Reddy.The minister asked TITA to come up with a dossier documenting the historical and other aspects of the ancient site.

Sundeep Kumar met Prof Panduranga Rao one of the founding members of the Kakatiya Heritage Trust and discussed the process and efforts involved in getting UNESCO tag to the Kakatiya-era temple so that a similar process can be followed in getting UNESCO recognition to the ancient heritage site in Mudumal in Narayanpet district.He also examined the KHT dossier drafted for the Ramappa Temple.

Prof Rao played a crucial role in getting the heritage tag to the Ramappa temple.He represented the case of an ancient temple with UNESCO officials at its headquarters in Paris and put forward a proposal to include the site in the UNESCO list.

Sundeep Makthala said that recognising the efforts of KHT, they came up with the idea of forming a trust to take up the cause of getting heritage tag for Mudumal Menhirs.He said that more such talks will be held with KHT members to further the Associations cause.

Appreciating the efforts of the TITA chief, Prof Rao said that he will visit the Mudumal site and study the place.He also promised to help the new trust in drafting of the dossier on the ancient site and make efforts to ensure the Mudumal site gets UNESCO tag for its heritage value.

TITA delegation had met Kishan Reddy on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum appealing to him to take steps to include Mudumal Menhirs site in the tentative nomination list for World Heritage Site tag from India.The minister suggested to the delegation to come up with a comprehensive report on the importance of the archaeological site in the form of a documentary.

Kishan Reddy assured the TITA delegation that he would take up the issue with officials of his department and discuss the action plan needed to include the site in the tentative nomination list for UNESCO World Heritage Sites.The Minister praised TITA for making efforts for the preservation of the ancient site at Mudumal and coming up with the demand for its inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The TITA team submitted a report of the Menhirs site which TITA prepared after its members led by its chief Sundeep Makthala visited the site recently.The delegation said that the development of the ancient site will boost tourism opportunities and pave the way to ample growth in the region.