Mission to explore heritage linking Arunachal to mainland

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, June 12

National Monument Authority (NMA) chairperson Tarun Vijay is trying to revive the ancient Indian practice of uniting diverse geographical areas with the help of mythology.

NMA team led by Vijay will visit Arunachal Pradesh for four days starting June 14 and meet local tribal leaders to find out places of indigenous faith, which connect the state with other parts of the nation through legends and oral history.

“The NMA team will meet village elders and leaders of various tribes. Each of them have fascinating stories about cultural connect with mainland India through ancient monuments. A report will be submitted to Minister of Culture and the Prime Minister suggesting new additions in the list of centrally protected monuments and identifying cultural tourism sites that strengthen national unity,” an NMA spokesperson said.

Nanda Kumar, historian and former fellow of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, said traditionally, new areas had been brought under the ambit of the cultural map of Hinduism with the help of myths. “The 51 Shakti Peethas can be cited as an example of this strategy. Several places have been incorporated in the cultural map by linking these places with the travel by the Pandavas (of the epic Mahabharata),” Nanda said.

Harvard University professor Diana L Eck’s book “India: A Sacred Geography” was one of the important recent works on the subject, said Ujjayan Bhattacharya, a faculty member at West Bengal’s Vidyasagar University.

NMA team to visit state from June 14

• National Monument Authority team to visit Arunachal from June 14
• Will meet local tribal leaders to find places of indigenous faith
• Aim is to find cultural tourism sites strengthening national unity