Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The World Heritage Week celebration organised by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI, Aurangabad Circle) witnessed a recordable participation of school students as well as the tourists and visitors, on Wednesday.
The students (from Dnaneshwar High School in Begumpura and Sanghmitra Primary and Secondary School in Bhausinghpura) attended the inaugural function organised at Bibi ka Maqbara in large numbers, while the tourists including foreign nationals enjoyed glancing photographs of world heritage sites in India at the exhibition put on the heritage campus, in large numbers during the whole day. The entry is free at the exhibition which will remain open for the students and the visitors from 10 am to 6 pm till November 25.
The Week’s celebration organised jointly by ASI (Aurangabad Circle) and Indiatourism Aurangabad was inaugurated by the zilla parishad’s education officer (secondary) Ashwini Lathkar, while the superintending archaeologist (conservation branch) Dr Shiv Kumar Bhagat, deputy superintending archaeological chemist (science branch) Mohammed Sameer C.P, Indiatourism Officer Snehal Patil, assistant archaeological engineer Hemant Hukare, Shri Bharatvarshiya Digambar Jain Mahasabha’s Wardhman Pande and others were on the dais.
In his welcome address, Dr Bhagat applauded the participation of the students and the visitors and underlined the motto behind selecting Bibi ka Maqbara, as the location for the Week’s celebration, rather than at Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves. The aim was to attract participation of students and the visitors in large numbers, he stressed.
Lathkar made the function interesting by interacting with the school students on the occasion through conducting a sort of question and answer session. To test their knowledge, she asked them about the locations of prescribed monuments. She appealed to the little minds to keep the heritage and its campus clean and tidy by using dustbins and preventing others from littering. Lathkar explained the monuments are not only the pride of the region but also of all the citizens. She also assured of proposing to include lessons on heritage in school curriculum.
The assistant archeologist Dr Rajneesh Kumar made an introductory speech and conducted the proceedings, while Hukare proposed a vote of thanks.
The ASI officials of all the conservation, science, horticulture and Ajanta branch including conservation assistant Sanjay Rohankar, Mithun Chalakh, Subhash Pandit, Nilesh Mahajan, Sudhir Wagh, Kaleem Shaikh and many others were present on the occasion.