Asserting on the need to educate students about the various monuments and their significance, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said there is a need to bring together various academic disciplines "to establish a correlation of the literature, history and archaeological data for better understanding of the past."
"There is a need to create greater awareness about monuments and their importance among the students and schools and colleges should orgse visits by students to nearby archaeological and historical monuments and encourage them to take part in upkeep activities," he said while addressing an award function orgsed by Punyabhushan Foundation in Pune.
"Time has arrived to bring together various academic disciplines such as history, archaeology, anthropology, iconography, epigraphy, and sociology to establish a strong correlation of the literature, history and archaeological data for better understanding of the past," he added.
The Vice President also stressed upon preserving the monuments in order to protect the glorious history of the country embedded in the structures.
"India has more than 3,600 monuments of national importance protected and preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India. It is important to protect and conserve the glorious history of the country embedded in these structures. Archaeological sites act as the bridges to connect the present with the past and reveals different facets of the past to mankind. Archeology has tremendous potential to reconstruct and re-correct history," he stated.
He also lauded the NGOs for undertaking the restoration of monuments in cities across India and conserving them to protect the rich heritage of India."I appreciate the efforts of NGOs like the Aga Khan Trust who have undertaken the restoration of monuments in few cities, and conservation and restoration of the Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple at Srirangam undertaken, and many more efforts of similar nature are needed."
"The city of Pune has shown light to the country on many occasions. I am sure, Pune will live up to the great legacy of high quality of educational, cultural, historical and social institutions and provide an impetus to undertake research in Indology, Sanskrit, and Ancient History," Naidu added.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was invited by the organsition to present the prestigious Punyabhushan Award to archeologist Dr. G.B. Deglurkar.
( With inputs from ANI )