Encroachers make 6 temples their home, ASI pleads helplessness
These are the monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India
The famous Malyavanta Raghunath Temple located on a mountain on Kampli Road in the World Heritage Site of Hampi | Express
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HAMPI: When you enter some of the temples, the heritage monuments, in Hampi, you see disfigured deities, paintings on the walls damaged, even temple boulders used for building new structures and some new Hanuman carvings added on the temple walls. And then you can see some people performing puja with all the paraphernalia strewn around.
They claim to have legal sanction to stay there. This is a decade-old problem. Though initially only one temple was occupied, in these ten years, five more temples have seen encroachments by different groups of people.
These are the monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Asked about the encroachments and the defacement, ASI officials express their helplessness and say any attempt to remove them has been unsuccessful as these encroachers come with heavy political connections.
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A heritage expert said, “They have occupied six temples now and maybe, in the coming years, they will occupy more such heritage monuments if no action is taken by ASI.”However, ASI officials say they have been trying to drive out these families from the protected monuments for almost a decade now but have failed. The Deputy Superintendent, Hampi Mini-circle, ASI, said, “I have been recently posted here and earlier officers too had made all efforts to remove these encroachers. Our staff has warned the encroachers at Raghunath Temple too and asked them to vacate the place.”
Lobbying on for Bengaluru Development portfolio
The newly elected BJP legislators -- Byrati Basavaraj, K Gopalaiah and ST Somashekar --- from Bengaluru are said to be lobbying for the plum Bengaluru Development portfolio
Read more at:
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These are the monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India
The famous Malyavanta Raghunath Temple located on a mountain on Kampli Road in the World Heritage Site of Hampi | Express
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAMPI: When you enter some of the temples, the heritage monuments, in Hampi, you see disfigured deities, paintings on the walls damaged, even temple boulders used for building new structures and some new Hanuman carvings added on the temple walls. And then you can see some people performing puja with all the paraphernalia strewn around.
They claim to have legal sanction to stay there. This is a decade-old problem. Though initially only one temple was occupied, in these ten years, five more temples have seen encroachments by different groups of people.
These are the monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Asked about the encroachments and the defacement, ASI officials express their helplessness and say any attempt to remove them has been unsuccessful as these encroachers come with heavy political connections.
..........................................................
A heritage expert said, “They have occupied six temples now and maybe, in the coming years, they will occupy more such heritage monuments if no action is taken by ASI.”However, ASI officials say they have been trying to drive out these families from the protected monuments for almost a decade now but have failed. The Deputy Superintendent, Hampi Mini-circle, ASI, said, “I have been recently posted here and earlier officers too had made all efforts to remove these encroachers. Our staff has warned the encroachers at Raghunath Temple too and asked them to vacate the place.”
Lobbying on for Bengaluru Development portfolio
The newly elected BJP legislators -- Byrati Basavaraj, K Gopalaiah and ST Somashekar --- from Bengaluru are said to be lobbying for the plum Bengaluru Development portfolio
Read more at:
Encroachers make 6 temples their home, ASI pleads helplessness
HAMPI: When you enter some of the temples, the heritage monuments, in Hampi, you see disfigured deities, paintings on the walls damaged, even temple boulders us
