Patna: Governor Satya Pal Malik chaired a high-level joint meeting of central and state government officials on historical sites in Bihar on Thursday and said their conservation, as well as, development could expand the state's tourism potential and lead to economic prosperity.
Pointing at the rich history of the state, Malik said the "golden age" of Indian history was identical with the history of Bihar. He highlighted the importance of the ancient Vikramshila University in Bhagalpur district and asserted that it could be a centre of attraction for Tibetan tourists.
Incidentally, Vajra Yana or the "diamond path" as practiced by Tibetan Buddhists involves tantric practices too among other things and developed at Vikramshila. The site is currently protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
"Bhagalpur airport should be developed so that international tourists can reach Vikramshila. The Union ministry of culture should take necessary steps to develop the site," Malik said.
Union ministry of culture secretary Raghvendra Singh, ASI director general (DG) Usha Sharma, Bihar development commissioner Shashi Shekhar Sherma, governor's principal secretary Vivek Kumar Singh, state urban development department's principal secretary Chaitanya Prasad, civil aviation ministry's joint secretary Arun Kumar, tourism ministry's DG Satyajit Ranjan, state civil aviation director Captain Dipak Kumar Singh, ASI Patna circle superintending archaeologist D.N. Sinha, state archaeology director Atul Kumar Verma and officials from several other departments were present.
Speaking further, Malik stressed on the need to develop various archaeological sites in Vaishali district, including Kolhua, Raja Vishal's fort, Abhishek Pushkarni lake, relic stupa of Vaishali and Miranji Ki Dargah. He said that the rare documents stored at Prakrit Jain Shastra and Ahimsa Shodh Sansthan in Vaishali should be conserved and appealed to Jain social organisations to aid in its development.
Raghvendra, on his part, said the central government could provide necessary financial help for development of "cultural complex" or state museum in Bihar.
Since the Bihar government had over the last few years alleged that the ASI was not cooperating in excavation of various archaeological sites and was withholding excavation licenses, its DG, Usha Sharma said ASI will take interest in issuing them and will provide all help in development of protect sites in the state.
"An integrated action plan should be made for development and conservation of archaeological sites of historical importance and efforts should be made by all departments concerned for this," Usha said.
At the meeting, Sinha gave a PowerPoint presentation on available facilities at Vaishali, Kolhua, relic stupa and Raja Vishal's fort and with the help of "gap analysis" highlighted facilities needed for developing the sites. He stressed on conservation and development of various sites like the Cyclopean wall, Sone Bhandar cave, Ajatshatru's fort and Banganga Stupa in Nalanda district, Sher Shah Suri's mausoleum, Kesaria Stupa, Barabar Caves, Asokan Pillars at Rampurwa and Areraj, Nagarjuni hills, Manersharif, Chirand and several other places.
Civil aviation joint secretary Arun Kumar gave detailed information about the development of a new terminal building at Patna airport and said it will developed in three to three-and-a-half years.
