UNESCO ends Ramappa evaluation

Ramappa (Mulugu): The intriguing scrutiny of eight centuries old RamappaTemple,an engineering marvel that has many sculptural masterpieces, has come to an end on Thursday with Secretary General of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)Vasu Poshyanandan, of Thailand, noting down pertinent details for which he was sent by the UNESCO.

It may be noted here that Vasu was here to evaluate the sculptural, cultural and engineering elegance of the temple that was built by the Kakatiya rulers. Based on his report and other parameters, the top brass of the UNESCO could decide whether the temple is fit to figure among the World Heritage Sites.

As of now, there are 1,121 World Heritage Sites across the planet earth, and of which 38 are from India. Vasu who minutely observed the carvings in the temple had also paid a visit to eight up-alayas (sub-temples) located around the main temple.

Of which six are Shivalayams and two Trikutalayas. Barring Gollagudi and Shivalayam, also known as Kalyanamandapam, adjacent to the Ramappa Lake, the others are in dilapidated condition.

He spoke to stapathi who is in-charge of reconstructing Kameshwaralayam, located on the main temple premises, and elicited information about its status. It is learnt that the stapathi told him it will take a couple of years to regroup the blocks of the temple. He also took a boat ride in the Ramappa lake.

Later, he held an interaction session with the locals to know their view about the temple. The locals who assured to provide their land if necessary, urged him to recognise Ramappa temple as the World Heritage Site. Further, they said that the world heritage tag would trigger economic growth of the tribal hinterland.

Responding to their plea, Vasu said, "I am only here to assess and document the temple's details. It's UNESCO that is going to decide whether the temple was fit or not to get inscribed as the world heritage site." It may be mentioned here that Ramappa is the only nomination from India for the year 2019.

The UNESCO, which rejected to consider the dossier submitted last year, asked government to redo it. The UNESCO is expected to announce its decision over Ramappa next year.