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| Need to start'Light and Sound' prog in ruins of Basohli palaces | | | Shiv Kumar Padha Basohli
In our country we have a peculiar habit of dressing up the bride when the barat reaches at the threshold and diging the well when we feel thirsty.The influx of the tourists from the adjoining states, to the tourist importance places of Basohli, started the day Atal Setu was dedicated to the nation by defence minister Manohar Parikar on December 24, 2015. A good number of people started thronging Basohli town every day to see the replicas or originals of Basohli Chiterkala, to purchase pashmina shawls and see the internationally famous ruines of Basohli palaces. The visitors like to see the ruins of the palace about which VT vigne, a French trevellar, has given a detailed account of, about the shape, architect workmanship and design of the only palace of the east, they want to see the Sheesh and Rang Mahal of the Palace, the courts of the Rajas of Pal dynasty which remained live with the presence of the Nav Rattans ( experts from all walks of life ). The PDP-BJP coalition government of the state has been vociferously talking about declaring Basohli as heritage town, develop pashmina industry of Basohli at par with the industry in Kashmir and protect, propagate, preserve and develop the Basohli Chiter Kala to the desired level from the day it took over the reins of the government in its hands. But, on ground level the reality is the same as it was before. The ruins as well as the passage leading to them are completely covered with thorny bushes as such the tourists who come with the intention to see the ruins get scratches on their skins. The pashmina industry which was destroyed like the muslin cloth of Dhaka ( Dhaka ki mulmul ) by the previous governments of the state is gaining the ground and rejuvenating gradually with the efforts of the local enterpreneurs.
Palaces of a town or of a city, whether in normal or in ruined condition, have a bonanza of information about the past for the coming generation, The ruins are the symbols of the glory of the places, prosperity, way of living of the people, mode of governance, justice, interests of the rulers and the ruled.. The musical rhythm of the 'gung roes and the vocal recitals of the court musicians still echo in the durbar hall and sheesh mahal'part of the ruins. That is why it is said that the remains of the palaces speak more than they were in living state. It is the time when our budding generation should know about their past and feel proud of the kind of the people and the kings who ruled them those days.
Basohli was the most popular and prosper state among the 22 states of Duggar which can be gauged from the ruins of the palaces which still have the volumes to speak about. The French traveler Vigne who visited Basohli between 1835-39 describes Basohli and its palaces as: "Basohli contains a large and slovenly looking bazaar, and the place would hardly, as for as I could judge, be worth the travelers' notice, were it not for the baronial appearance of the palace of the old Rajas, which I thought the very finest building of the kind I had seen in the east. Its square turrets open and embattled parapets, projecting windows Chinese-roofed balconies and moat like tank in front presented a general look. It reminded me of some of the most ancient red - brick structure of my own country".
The palace stands on a plate form which is approximately 100 ft from the chogan . The earthen pipes circulated throughout the interior of the palace reveal that the place was centrally air conditioned. The palace is spread over an area of about 2000 sq. mts. There are still the remains of the big halls which are understood to have been used as the meeting places of the masses..There is sufficient space to accommodate thousands of persons at a time. The whole palace is visible even from the middle of the town 'chogan".
No doubt the palaces and the whole town presents a scenic beauty yet much is needed to be done for converting these ruins into assets and worth visiting by starting some attractive programs like 'Light And Sound' programme in the ruins, starting heritage restaurants and libraries in the remaining compartments. It becomes the duty of the government to plan in such away so that a number of tourists from other part of the country throng in good number to see such wonderful structure of the east and watch the Light and Sound programme.
Everybody knows that our modern generations, though have much knowledge of the world history, are still quite ignorant about their past glory. In order to apprise the buddying generation about the glorious period of Pal dynasity, the light and sound programme on the pattern of old fort of Delhi and Mughal garden of Kashmir need be started in the remains of the palaces weakly or fortnightly to attract tourists. This programme will definitely boost tourism in and around Basohli which, in turn, will ensure good means of livlihood for the unemployed youth of the area. There are many themes on which the scripts can be written for the said light and sound programme in the ruins. Some of them included folk songs and dances from adjoining states Himachal and Punjab, dramas on the characters of Kunju and Chachlo, stories from wars and victories of the Rajas of Basohli, from the mysteries of murder of Raja Bhupat Pal in the court of Mughal king Shah jahan of Delhi in 1642, about the devine beauty of Raja Sangram Pal, his visit and stay in the Mughal Darbar, conspiracy connected to the murder of Lajan Mian by the courtiers, pahari songs, ayurveda, musicians and astrologers, traditions and customs of pahari people and origination of Basohli chiterkala.
A little interest and the political will on the part of the government can prepare programmes for translating this project into reality. The light and sound programme is cheap and manageable and can attract a good number of tourists from all over the country. |
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