Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurates the exhibition ‘Shashwat Maharathi : The Eternal Seeker’ on Chitracharya Upendra Maharath

Source: indiaeducationdiary.in

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Culture& Tourism (Independent Charge), Shri Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated the exhibition ‘Shashwat Maharathi : The Eternal Seeker’ on Chitracharya Upendra Maharath at newly renovated Jaipur House in National Gallery of Modern art New Delhi today. The Exhibition showcases more than 1000 works of art, design, and woven objects of art by Chitracharya Upendra Maharathi. Exhibition will be remained open for general public from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm Tuesday to Friday. On weekends people can visit exhibition till 8:00 pm.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister congratulated NGMA for beautiful restoration of Jaipur House. He also appreciated the Exhibition ‘Eternal Seeker’ which is showcasing magnificent work of Shri Chitracharya Upendra Maharath.

The show of paintings, drawings, murals sculptures, woven cloths and chairs all point to the zenith of his creativity. His interest in Buddhism brought forth many designs that were inspired by Buddhist ideology. The installations in the retrospective have been designed by DG, NGMA Adwaita Gadanayak. The Exhibition has been curated by Adwaita Gadanayak and his team.

Maharathi was author of many books too, The Book on bamboo art, “Venushilpa” was among the best. Vaishali ke Lichhvi (The Lichhvi dynasty of Vaishali), Bouddha Dharma ka Abbhuthan (The Rise of Buddhism), Indragupta were some of the other memorable works.

Following the tradition of ancient art of sculpture, he designed many noted buildings : Venuban Viharin Rajagriha, Sandarbh Vihar, Ananda Stupa, Prakrit and Jainology Institute at Vaishali, Nava Nalanda Maha Vihar at Nalanda, etc. of great interest is the outer facade of the Nalanda Railway Station, are among those specially designed at the exhibition at Jaipur House .

Born in the village Narendrapur, Puri district in Orissa, in May 1908, Maharathi finished from the Govt College of Art, Kolkata, as an artist cum architect. In later years he came to Patna in Bihar. From 1933 to 1942 he advocated a literary-cultural revival as he worked in the publishing house, “Pustak Bhandar”, in Laharyasari, Darbhanga. In 1942, he was appointed a special designer in the Department of Industry, Govt of Bihar. In 1954, he visited Japan to attend the UNESCO International conference as representative of India.

List of ‘iconic tourist sites’ may be reviewed

Source: thehindu.com

The government’s plan to develop 17 ‘iconic tourist sites’ could see some changes, with Union Culture and Tourism Minister of State (independent charge) Prahlad Singh Patel ordering a review of the sites included in the project.

Mr. Patel ordered the setting up of a committee to look into the sites included in the plan, Ministry officials said on Monday.

Changes sought

Last week, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote to Mr. Patel asking him to include Odisha’s Konark Sun Temple and Jagannath Temple, Puri.

In July 2018, then Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons had said 17 ‘iconic tourist sites’ would be developed. These were Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh, Ajanta and Ellora caves in Maharashtra, Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort and Qutub Minar in Delhi, Colva Beach in Goa, Amer Fort in Rajasthan, Somnath and Dholavira in Gujarat, Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, Hampi in Karnataka, Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu, Kaziranga in Assam, Kumarakom in Kerala and Mahabodhi in Bihar.

In her Budget 2019-2020 speech on July 5, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had mentioned the project again.

She said the government was developing “17 iconic tourism sites into world class tourist destinations and to serve as a model for other tourism sites.”

According to her, they iconic tourism sites would “enhance visitor experience which would lead to increased visits of both domestic and international tourists at these destinations.”