a day ago
Hampi not just tourist place, it's sacred: Ex-ambassador to Unesco
Bengaluru: The kind of tourism that has developed in Hampi is not very congenial to the site, retired IAS officer Chiranjiv Singh noted during an event in Bengaluru Sunday. "Hampi is not just a tourist place, it is a sacred place," Singh, a former Indian Ambassador to Unesco, said at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB) here.
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He threw light on how tourism often spoils heritage sites. Giving examples of how European nations limit tourism, he insisted on preserving and protecting Hampi from the problems brought about by it.
Singh spoke after launching the book 'The Empire of the God King' by Tirumala Venkata Devayara, the 20th descendant of the Emperor Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara. Devaraya, a graduate in history from the University of Durham, is preparing to begin pursuing his master's at the SOAS University of London.
BVB chairman KG Raghavan lamented the interference of govt bodies in history education. "Govts want to train young minds to suit their understanding of what history ought to be. That is a grave danger for the preservation of our culture," he said.
In an interactive session moderated by art critic Jyothi Raghuram, the author said that his main sources of historical material were travelogues by Portuguese and Italian travellers who described Hampi. The 24-year-old also expressed his desire to return to India after his studies.
