The Hindu : New Delhi News : Historic treasure a click away

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 09, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Historic treasure a click away

The dark caves of Ajanta will now come to life at the click of a button. Experimenting with "reel" for the first time, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) recently released a CD-ROM that gives people a virtual walk-through of the ornately painted caves.

Apart from giving people a feel of the caves, the CD-ROM also has information on Ajanta. From an audio-visual presentation of the narrative paintings to the description of the caves and even what the scholars have written on the subjects, the CD is crammed with everything you wanted to know about this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

With more than three hours of footage from the IGNCA video-archives, photographs, paintings, sculpture and architecture, the CD-ROM will go a long way in spreading awareness about Ajanta. It also explains the Jataka tales with visuals.

Famous for its murals that focus on the life of the Buddha, these caves and the paintings have fascinated people for centuries for their sheer details and large size.

Using technology to explain the past, the CD-ROM is the first of many for IGNCA.

The upcoming titles might not concentrate on tangible heritage, but will bring alive other aspects of culture. "Man and the Mask", "Gita Govinda", "Visvarupa" and "Oral Narratives of Devnarayan". The CD-ROM is available at the IGNCA sales counter to begin with for Rs. 300 for all those who want to learn. -- Mandira Nayar

-- Mandira Nayar

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