No Telangana sites on must see' list of Archaeological Survey of India

Hyderabad: The famed Nagarjunakonda, a Buddhist site in Andhra Pradesh has been included in the Archaeological Survey of India’s list of 86 “Must See” outstanding Indian monuments and archaeological sites on its portal, but there is none from Telangana.

Though Hyderabad’s Charminar, Golconda Fort and Qutb Shahi tombs are famous the world over, they don’t figure in the final list. In the draft “Must See” list, neither Telangana nor Andhra Pradesh monuments were listed. Churches and convents of Goa were on it but were removed in the final list.

ASI received petitions from historians and others from Telangana demanding inclusion of Telangana monuments. An ASI official said the list was prepared in New Delhi. “ASI looks into various aspects including importance of a monument or archaeological site, conservation and maintenance before selecting it. Telangana monuments like Charminar, Golconda and Qutb Shahi tombs may not fit into this aspect,” he said.

Of the 29 states and seven Union territories in the country, monuments and archaeological sites from only 17 states figure in the “Must See” list. Karnataka takes the lion’s share with 25 of its monuments listed followed by Assam at 18 and Uttar Pradesh nine. The draft list included 45 monuments and archaeological sites that was increased to 86.

The states that do not figure are Telangana, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Tripura. ASI, under the Ministry of Culture, had decided to create an online portal for outstanding monuments and archaeological sites, under the protection of the ASI including those that feature on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.