Kalaburagi monuments awaiting UNESCO tag for over a decade

Kalaburagi: The Department of Archaeology, Museums, and Heritage submitted a proposal to the World Heritage Advisory Committee through the Department of Culture, Government of India, in February 2014, to include the monuments and forts of Kalaburagi, Bidar, and Vijayapur districts of Karnataka under the title ‘Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate’ on the World Heritage Tentative List. However, the proposal remains pending.

It was shocking news for Kalaburagi’s historians and scholars that Union Minister Gajendra Singh’s statement comes to notice that no new monuments in Karnataka were presently under consideration for nominations he said recently this month.

From Kalaburagi the Bahmani fort and Haft Gumbaz are recommended for UNESCO tag.
According to sources, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) committee of UNESCO reviewed and accepted the proposal on April 15, 2014, adding it to the tentative list.

A decade-old document on the pending proposal for the nomination of ‘Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate’ highlights that a dossier was prepared in collaboration with the Indian Heritage Cities Network Foundation (IHCNF) on the said Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected heritage structures. This dossier was subsequently submitted to ASI and forwarded to UNESCO. However, the proposal has yet to receive the coveted UNESCO tag.

The Department of Archaeology, Museums, and Heritage, along with the Archaeological Survey of India, bear responsibility for not adequately representing the Kalaburagi monuments. For instance, visitors to the Bahmani Fort find no descriptive information displayed in front of its monuments said noted photographer and historian Mohammed Ayazuddin Patel.

Despite being home to the unique Jamia Masjid, reputedly the second-largest mosque in Asia, the fort is poorly maintained. Similarly, there is a lack of proper recognition and display of the world’s longest cannon. Despite repeated reminders, the importance of Kalaburagi’s heritage sites, including the Haft Gumbaz complex, has not been effectively highlighted in the pursuit of the UNESCO tag said artist and researcher Rehaman Patel who is also known for Bahmani Art and Architecture research work.

“At least now, the department authorities should take serious steps to properly represent the Kalaburagi monuments by consulting local historians and scholars who are experts in regularly documenting the monuments.”