AIZAWL: Director general of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has sanctioned Rs 25 lakh for development of Vangchhia heritage site in eastern Mizoram.
INTACH Mizoram chapter president P Rohmingliana met the DG Dr Rakesh Tewari in New Delhi last week and informed him that no steps have been taken to develop the heritage site. “He immediately instructed SA Guwahati (Dr M K Chauley) over phone and asked him to start work with Rs 25 lakhs within his power to sanction, and to make proposals for other development plans beyond his financial powers,” Rohmingthanga said today.
The ASI had declared Vangchhia which is home to nearly 200 ancient menhirs a heritage site of national importance in 2014.
The exact site located near Vangchhia village in Champhai district near the Myanmar border is known as Kawtchhuah Ropui (the great passageway).
The DG also fulfilled the Mizoram INTACH’s proposal to bifurcate the Guwahati circle ASI by instructing one of his officers to immediately make a proposal for the creation of a new circle for Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur with Aizawl as the headquarter.
Rohmingthanga also prayed the DG to pursue the pending proposals for declaration of Lungphunlian, Lianpui, Dungtlang and Farkawn, situated in the vicinity of Vangchhia as heritage sites.
He was also apprised of the pending release of funds for museum improvement even though all papers had already been furnished by director A&C, Mizoram already. Uma Kant, OSD of Mizoram House, New Delhi, who accompanied Rohmingthanga, will further pursue this case.
The declaration of Vangchhia heritage site as “national importance” owes credit to long and arduous efforts of Mizoram chapter INTACH. The menhirs have puzzled both common people and experts alike.
Even though the embossed figures in the menhirs depicted some Mizo cultures, cross cultural dating suggested that they belong to the period of 1200-1400 AD, which was long before Mizo forefathers arrived from Burma.
Archaeologists said that the menhirs are unique to India’s North-eastern region. “We see similar carvings from the historic period in Central and South India, and hope to study these (in Mizoram) further, once they are protected,” said an archaeologist.
No one is certain what these carvings are supposed to represent, but Gupta said they may be akin to the “heroic stones” found elsewhere in the sub-continent—commemoration stones that carry images of game or warriors hunted or killed by chiefs or warriors of a particular clan, tribe or community.