Caption: Juthika Patankar, Additional DG, ASI, lighting the lamp to inaugurate the 150th anniversary celebrations of ASI in city this morning as (from left) Dr. T.S. Ravishankar, Director-Epigraphy of ASI, Dr. K.V. Ramesh, Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy and Dr. S.V. Venkateshaiah, ASI Regional Director, look on.
Mysore, Feb. 13
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), a pioneering subordinate office under the Ministry of Tourism & Culture, celebrated its 150th anniversary at Panchavati, Gymkhana Auditorium of AIISH on Bogadi road here this morning.
The programme was inaugurated by Juthika Patankar, Additional Director General of ASI, New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, she said that the Department had conserved 3,677 monuments all over the country and more such works were on. In view of the challenges faced by the ASI owing to the importance given to heritage and culture, the entire Department will be restructured and the staff will be trained in management skills, she said and added that steps will be taken to fully equip the ASI. Suggestions of scholars will be considered before taking any major decisions, she assured.
Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, Mysore University, speaking as the chief guest, said that the ASI was like Varaha avatar (incarnation of boar) of Lord Vishnu who dug out planet earth out of the ocean between his tusks and restored it to its proper place in the universe. Similarly, ASI digs out information from ancient times to educate the people. ASI has been rendering yeomen service in preserving the cultural heritage of the land for posterity, he added.
Dr. S.V. Venkateshaiah, Regional Director (South) of ASI, speaking as a chief guest, said that the department has been extensively working for conserving ancient monuments.
An exhibition comprising photographs of the monuments restored by ASI, showing how the monuments were and how they look after restoration, has been organised at Panchavati, which can be viewed by the public.
ASI Director Dr. T.S. Ravishankar (in-charge, Epigraphy Department) said that the Directorate of Epigraphy, Mysore, with its two zonal offices located in Chennai and Lucknow, is engaged in copying, deciphering, editing and publishing the texts.
The office has collected more than 74,000 inscriptions of different scripts and languages from around the country.
source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / General News / February 19th, 2012