Minister for Tourism H.K. Patil said here on Sunday that the government would make a serious attempt to recover stolen idols and artifacts of the State that have been smuggled out and are in different parts of the world.
He was speaking after releasing the new logo and tagline for Mysuru to promote the city as an international tourism destination for all seasons.
The Minister said it was brought to his notice that as many as 72 sculptures and idols some more beautiful than what is preserved in the existing temples, have been stolen over the years and are on display in museums in England. These sculptures and idols are part of Karnataka’s rich heritage and culture. “I will discuss the issue with the Department of Archaeology Museums and Heritage and take necessary steps in a bid to recover them,” said the Minister.
Mr. Patil said he was not aware of the kind of efforts if any, that have been put into this endeavour in the past but this government would take up the issue seriously.
The Minister also said that though Karnataka has over 25,000 monuments only 848 have been notified so far. The rest are languishing in neglect or have not been promoted and the government would soon revise the number of protected monuments by adding 500 more monuments to the protected list.
Mr. Patil said the first step towards conservation of monuments was their protection and the upward revision of the number of protected monuments was an exercise in this regard. On conservation, he said government alone cannot be expected to conserve all of them and there should be a participatory approach involving the public.
In this connection, the State government’s adoption of a monument scheme was expected to pay rich dividends and there were more than 25 NRIs who had evinced interest in adopting the monuments to secure their protection once the scheme was announced. Mr. Patil said the government will unveil the new tourism policy by the end of January 2024 and it will also spell out the details of heritage conservation and adoption. The State’s rich history, culture, heritage, wildlife, and natural beauty were a feast for the eyes and the government will take all steps to familiarize the people about it and make them aware of it.
The district administrations would also be instructed to harness the MGNREGA scheme to create basic amenities at tourist places where feasible or ensure that such amenities are provided by patrons adopting a monument. Tourism promotion and amenities creation should be taken up on a priority mode, the Minister added.
MLAs Ravishankar, Darshan Dhruvanarayan, MLC Manjegowda, DC K.V. Rajendra, Mysuru Zilla Panchayat CEO K.M. Gayatri, Commissioner of Department of Archaeology Museums and Heritage A. Devaraju, and others were present.
