Restoring, renovating old heritage sites will boost State’s economy: Priya Sethi

Excelsior Correspondent

Minister of State for Education, Culture and Information Priya Sethi during concluding function of workshop on heritage wall paintings at Jammu on Saturday.
Minister of State for Education, Culture and Information Priya Sethi during concluding function of workshop on heritage wall paintings at Jammu on Saturday.

JAMMU, July 4: Indian National Trust for Art, Culture and Heritage  (INTACH), Jammu Chapter organised a one day workshop on heritage wall paintings here at Tourist Reception Centre on Friday.
Minister of State for Education, Culture and Information Priya Sethi was chief guest on the valediction function of the workshop.
She released a documentary on wall paintings. The documentary has been prepared by the INTACH with support from the J&K Tourism Department.
Underscoring on resolve of the Government to preserve cultural heritage, Priya Sethi said the State is famous for its cultural diversity and all out efforts would be made to conserve and preserve the rich heritage. She said the Government will utilise the expertise of organisations like INTAC for preserving and reviving the cultural heritage of the State.
The Minister said wall paintings are testimony of the glorious past of the State in which Art and Culture prospered in spite of hurdles and lack of resources. She said temples and old heritage buildings in the State are famous for their wall paintings and restoration works are underway to protect these paintings.
She said restoring and renovating old heritage sites would also attract more tourists and the State’s economy would get a boost.
Convenor, Jammu Chapter INTACH S.M. Sahni welcomed the delegates and participants to the workshop and gave a resume of the activities.
Sopia, Wall painting consultant, Sushant Rana and Rajiv Chowdhary conducted technical sessions using audio-visual presentations on conservation techniques.
Over 40 participants comprising of academicians, students, art enthusiasts, members of civil society and artists drawn from Kishtwar, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri, Kathua, Samba and Jammu attended the workshop.
A field visit to Panjbakhtar Mahadev temple was also conducted for practical exposure of the participants.
Director, Command Area Development and Co-convenor INTACH, Jammu chapter Hemant Kumar Sharma proposed vote of thanks.
Eminent Environmentalist Dr. C.M. Seth, Prof Lalit Gupta, Prof Anita Billawria, Prof Sudhir Singh, Anil Paba, Bharat Bhushan, , Anuradha Seth, Suvidha Khanna, members of INTAC Jammu Chapter and prominent citizens were present on the occasion.