सिंधुदुर्ग जिल्ह्यातील कुडोपी (ता. मालवण) इथल्या नवाश्मयुगीन पाषाणशिल्पांसंबधीचा शोधनिबंध मी बदामी (कर्नाटक) इथल्या राष्ट्रीय परिषदेत सादर केला, त्याला बरोबर एक वर्ष झालं. काल 7 डिसेंबर 2013 रोजी प्रसिद्ध झालेल्या 'The Sunday Guardian' या लंडन आणि नवी दिल्ली येथुन प्रसिद्ध होणा-या प्रतिष्ठीत संडे न्युजपेपरमध्ये श्री. किरण तारे यांनी घेतलेली माझी मुलाखत प्रसिद्ध झाली आहे. जिज्ञासुंनी सोबतची लिंक अवश्य पहावी.
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Lone official fights to save ancient rock paintings |
Satish Lalit, in his personal capacity has managed to save the rock art spot from being sold. His next aim is to block roads leading to the spot to avoid crowd and defacing.
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Mumbai | 7th Dec 2013
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Rock art found in Bavlyancho Dongor (hill of dolls).
atish Lalit, a Maharashtra government official, is fighting a lone battle to save a 7,000-year-old stone art which depicts human and animal lives in figures carved on rock. Lalit had found 85 such rock figures in Konkan last year. He convinced the land owner where the rock art is found not to sell the land. He has also requested the local administration to block the entry points so that no vehicles could move around it. The administration has not acted upon his request yet.
The 52-year-old avid trekker made the startling discovery while on a trek in his home district Sindhudurg in May last year. When he reached a village Kudopi the locals informed him that there were some ancient paintings drawn by the Pandavas in a nearby area named Bavlyancho Dongor (hill of dolls). "I searched for the spot for three days but could not locate it. Finally, I found the marvellous rock art in an open land. There were grass and bushes everywhere. It was a clear indication that no one was maintaining it," Lalit said. He works as Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's chief Public Relations Officer.
He said that there were more than 60 big and small images of the Mother Goddess, birds and animals in a single location of around 20,000 square feet. It is considered as one of the biggest such concentrations anywhere in the country. "Though similar carvings have been found in other parts of India, this is the first find on a red soil laterite plateau. These are petro-glyphs unlike the picto-graphs found in places like Amravati," he said. The most striking carving is that of a 15-foot tall Mother Goddess with all the internationally known symbols indicating her status. During that era, women were presumably accorded a very high social status.
Lalit is a member of Rock Art Society of India (RASI, which works for the promotion of scientific study, conservation, management and popularisation of Indian rock art. He talked to some experts associated with RASI to ascertain whether the figures he had found were really examples of rock art. He got the confirmation in November last year. He presented a paper in the same month at RASI's annual congress in Karnataka to get it established.
Lalit is now faced with the uphill task of trying to maintain the rock art in the absence of funds and manpower. Most of the land owners in Kudopi have cultivated mangoes in their lands. Lalit first convinced the rock art landowner not to sell his land or cultivate mangoes there. He feared that any type of digging would destroy the art. "The owner Mahesh Pawaskar is not a rich farmer. But when I explained to him the historical importance of his piece of land, he agreed to leave it as it is," Lalit said.
That was the first victory. The real challenge lay ahead. Onlookers started visiting the place a few days after Lalit announced his finding. He believes that keeping the crowd out till the place is secured against the human tendency to scribble on afcient monuments is the only way to save the art. He has written a letter to the district's Guardian Minister Narayan Rane requesting him to take measures to save the art. Rane on his part passed the buck to the local administration. However, Lalit has not given up hope. He is following up the request with undiminished enthusiasm.
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