Centuries old murals on walls of religious institutions and palaces in undivided Ganjam district are getting destroyed without proper maintenance, alleged Odisha Folk Foundation.
Convener of Odisha Folk Foundation, Bighneswar Sahu urged the Culture Department to take immediate steps to save the murals which are still surviving.
Odisha Folk Foundation has identified some of the spots where these murals still exist in parts of Ganjam and Gajapati districts of Odisha and in adjoining Andhra Pradesh.
“All of these murals are more than 200-years-old and some of them are even around 300 to 350-years-old. Lack of maintenance has deteriorated their condition. In some places in the name of renovation, use of enamel paint has also damaged the ancient wall paintings”, Mr. Sahu said.
Some of the spots where these murals still exist are in Paralakhemundi of Gajapati district. Walls of this old palace bear several murals. According to researchers of Odisha Folk Foundation, large number of murals on walls of this palace has got whitewashed during past years.
They now exist only in some pictures taken in the past by art lovers. Similarly the Bada Radhakant Math and Rasikaraj Math, two religious institutions of Paralakhemundi also have old traditional murals on their walls.
Due to efforts of Murali Parichha, the recent head of Rasikaraj Math which is also known as Apana Parichha Math, murals on a large wall on its premises have been renovated and restored.
Murals of Odia tradition are also in dilapidated condition at Meliaputi in Andhra Pradesh at a distance of around 20 kilometres from Paralakhemundi.
This temple was also built by kings of Paralakhemundi in the past. The Radhakant Math at Chikiti and some temples and religious institutions of Digapahandi area also have murals on their walls which need restoration.
With time, value of the institutions that bore the murals as well as the murals themselves has got reduced in the eyes of present society. Income of these institutions has gone down.
In the past they used patrons of art and culture. But now, most heads of these institutions do not have interest and knowledge to save the centuries old murals, said Mr. Sahu.
So, the murals are not being preserved.
There are some instances when money has been spent to remove murals from the old walls rather than saving them. Source: The Hindu
