The Hindu : Restoring old glory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 08, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Restoring old glory

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 7 . This is an example of the Indo-Japanese "friendship''. Keeping alive the "common'' heritage of both countries, the Buddhist monuments at Sanchi and Satdhara have been conserved and preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in collaboration with UNESCO and the Japanese Trust Fund. A relationship that began ten years ago, this project is now in its final stage.

"It is a 500,000- dollar project that has involved archaeological excavation at the sites and conservation of stupas and the two monasteries in Satdhara and Sanchi. The ASI conducted excavations and many spectacular discoveries were made. Besides working on the sites, the project also had a training component to it. Micheal Jansen, a professor at the University of Aachen who has been associated with the project, helped train officials in the latest techniques of monument documentation,'' stated a member of the visiting UNESCO mission, Sarah Finke.

While Sanchi is on the World Heritage List and manages to attract visitors from all over the world, this project helped put Satdhara, which is an important Buddhist site, on the tourist map. Covering an area of 28 hectares, Satdhara has a main stupa, 29 smaller stupas and two monasteries.

"It is already a destination for people who are interested in Buddhism. The ASI is also doing a visitor's research at the site, so they will be able to tell if the numbers go up. We are very satisfied with the work done at both the sites and will recommend that the World Heritage Site is extended to include Satdhara. But nothing has been decided so far. Our team can only recommend but the final decision has to be taken by the World Heritage Committee. India also has to make a request for it, so there is no concrete plan at the moment,'' remarked president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), Michael Petzet.

The archaeological excavations conducted at Satdhara revealed that the main Stupa was probably constructed in the third century BC, during the Ashoka period, with large-sized bricks and then covered with stone layers some four hundred years later. Archaeological finds also include fragments of northern black polished pottery possibly from 500-200 BC and two sets of Buddhist rock paintings from the 4th and 7th Centuries AD.

"The ASI has found an innovative way to display all the findings at Satdhara. It is like an archaeological park, which will certainly help visitors to understand what the project was all about,'' said Ms. Finke.

Besides Satdhara and Sanchi, the UNESCO mission also visited other Buddhist sites like Murel-Khurd and Andher.

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