Pic: DHF officials in LakkundiGadag: Lakkundi heritage site is now attracting foreign attention. The Italy- and Greece-based Deccan Heritage Foundation (DHF), a non-profit organisation having its office in Bengaluru, has come forward to develop the open museum. It will also publish a coffee table book on the historical places of Lakkundi, Dambal, and Gadag, in English and Kannada, by mid-March.
Sharanu Gogeri, commissioner of Lakkundi Heritage Area Development Authority, Gadag, told TOI that the state govt purchased three acres to set up an open museum in Lakkundi. “Now DHF, which has experience in preserving, restoring, and promoting the architectural heritage of the Deccan region of India by bringing together specialists, communities, and patrons to undertake conservation and educational programmes, has come forward. DHF officials and experts, such as Helen Philon, co-founder Stephane Bloch Saloz, Alexander, and others, visited the site recently. They studied all archaeological items discovered in recent days and reviewed the land preserved for the open museum. They proved their expertise by preserving the Nagakunda stepwell in Sudi, Ron taluk, and many other royal families’ heritage sites in south India. Their role is as a donor to preserve monumental sites, and they plan to develop an open museum in a unique manner,” he explained. Helen said that Lakkundi is a wonderful place to visit. “We just visited, and plans are underway. We are preparing to publish a guidebook of about 120 pages, in English and Kannada, on the monuments of Lakkundi, Dambal, and Gadag, and it will be published on March 15. We published such a book about Badami, Aihole, and Pattadkal in the past. For the first time, we are publishing a guidebook in Kannada,” she said. Saicharan Palakurthi, project manager, DHF, said that the foundation has been prepared to join hands with the state archaeological department to provide expertise. “Our recent visit to Lakkundi aimed to understand the landscape of the place. As the govt floated the tender, we applied for it, and we hope we will get it. Apart from this, we already started working on the guidebook.“Unfamiliar to most tourists, the area around Gadag and Lakkundi in central northern Karnataka is exceptionally rich in historical monuments, most of them associated with the Chalukya kings, who ruled this part of the Deccan during the 11th and 12th centuries. Highlights include the magnificent stepwells at Lakkundi and Sudi; the Shri Trikuteshwara Temple in Gadag with its trio of linga shrines; the Mallikarjuna Temple at Kuruvatti overlooking the Tungabhadra, erected by Someshvara-II in memory of his father; the Mahadeva Temple at Itagi with its intricately wrought carved exterior; and the Doddabasappa Temple in Dambal, laid out on a 24-point, star-shaped plan. All of these and more will be described in Chalukya Splendours by specialist scholars, who will also offer a historical introduction to the Chalukyas and their successors in this part of Karnataka,” he stated. About DHFFounded by architectural historians Helen Philon and George Michell, with Stephane Bloch Saloz as co-founder, Deccan Heritage Foundation is a group of scholars, philanthropists and heritage workers from around the world, to restore, maintain and inform the public about the Deccan’s built heritage.
