Even after 128 years since the petroglyphs of the Edakkal caves were found, UNESCO’s World Heritage Site status for the Neolithic site still remains a distant dream.
In 1895, Fred Fawcett, the then Superintendent of Police of the erstwhile Malabar district, found the marvellous treasure of rock art during a hunting expedition to the Ambukuthy hills. He reported the petroglyphs in Indian Antiquary, a government of India publication, in 1901. In his article, Fawcett gave a vivid account of the engravings on the walls of the cave.
The State government had earmarked ₹50 lakh to expedite measures to secure the world heritage status for the prehistoric rock art site at Edakkal and the 400-year-old Padmanabhapuram Palace, near Nagercoil, in Tamil Nadu and appointed a special officer in 2013. The Kerala Museum of History and Heritage, Thiruvananthapuram, was the implementing agency for the project.
“Even after 10 years and all allocated funds exhausted on seminars and workshops, the World Heritage Site status still remains elusive, thanks to the alleged apathy of the State Archaeology department and the successive governments, says Thomas Amabalavayal, convener, Edakkal Cave protection committee.
Moreover, the post of the special officer has remained vacant since 2016, Mr. Thomas added.
“Minister for Museums, Archaeology and Archives Ahammad Devarkovil reiterated during a three-day workshop on conservation, preservation, and management of Edakkal petroglyphs last year that the Archaeology department was trying to secure UNESCO’s World Heritage Site status for the site. However, no steps were taken so far for the purpose,” Mr. Thomas added.
Although an expert committee, constituted by the government last year to conduct a detailed study on the archaeological site and suggest measures for its conservation, conducted its first meeting, the report of the meeting was yet to be published, he said.
Tourism plans
“Now the District Tourism Promotion Council, which manages the site, is trying to turn the site of archaeological significance into a tourism site,” he added.
The State government should hand over the site to the Archeological Survey of India to secure the world heritage site status and ensure conservation of the Neolithic petroglyphs, he said.
