Mysuru
State Tourism Minister HK Patil said that government has decided to notify 500 unprotected heritage monuments by the end of this year. He said government has also initiated measures for the rejuvenation of Nagavi Agrahara, a forgotten university of Rashtrakuta times, near Chittapur taluk of Gulbarga district.
He was speaking after inaugurating a solo art exhibition at Kalanikethan School of Visual Arts here.
He said the state has more than 25,000 unprotected heritage monuments, which lies in a state of neglect from time immemorial. The state has so far notified 837 heritage monuments, protected and promoted them through archaeology, museums, and the heritage department, he said.
As government was finding it difficult to notify all these heritage monuments due to financial constraints, it has encouraged private agencies, industries, mutts, educational institutions, NGOs and NRIs to adopt and conserve monuments in their locality, he said.
As Nagavi University, also known as Takshasila of South, which was once an important place of learning thousands of years ago like Nalanda University lies in a state of neglect, government has now taken up rejuvenation of this historical site, he said.
Recently, the consecration of Ram temple drew nationwide attention, but Nagavi University, which can also be called as Karnataka’s first university, is lying in a state of neglect. The iconic 60-pillar temple at Nagavi was a centre for higher education as over 250 scholars, and students from several parts of the world studied here, the minister said.
According to historians, inscriptions found at the site confirmed students were taught Sanskrit, Vedas and mathematics about 2,000 years ago, he said.
