More budgetary allocations for archaeological sites needed

Shahana Bilkis Existence of any prehistoric phase in the deltaic land of Bangladesh was not found by archaeologists for a long time. It is only very recently that traces of a fossil-wood tool-making tradition have been unearthed. Early archaeological activities in areas comprising Bangladesh were mainly concerned with remains of 'early historic' and 'early medieval' period. Of the Hindu-Buddhist archaeological sites in Bangladesh, the most important are Paharpur in Naogaon, Mahasthangarh in Bogra, and Mainamati in Comilla. Sir Alexander Cunningham's archaeological expeditions in areas now forming Bangladesh was carried out in 1879-80 and included Mahasthan and Paharpur. The recent discovery of Buddhist temples in two districts are not less valuable compared to Paharpur and Mahasthan. Archaeology Department of Jahangirnagar University (JU) discovered a temple and a brick-built building at Palsha union under Ghoraghat upazila in Dinajpur district recently. The excavation work is going on. This discovery was made after a survey in August 2011. Again, after three years of excavation, archaeologists unearthed an ancient Buddhist 'Vihara' (monastery) earlier in Bikrampur region of the Munshiganj district for the first time while carrying out excavation work at Raghurampur village. The discovery was made during an excavation conducted jointly by the Agrasar Bikrampur Foundation, a local socio-cultural organisation, and the Archaeology Department of the JU. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs financed the project. Priority of upholding national identity and cultural heritage of the country appears to have been ignored in budget allocation. Another issue to take into consideration is that the ruling party's goals differ from party to party and each of them may have different view of what direction the country should take in the future. But again, all the political parties hold similar view when it comes to culture, art and heritage of the country. The Department of Archeology needs money for modern equipment because almost all the historic sites and locations require maintenance work immediately and the National Museum requires better facilities to preserve these antiques. If the cultural heritages, discovered earlier and of late, are proper maintained, those will draw tourists home and abroad. Money spent by the tourists for visiting these sites will surely contribute to the national exchequer. Again, it is helpful for our country branding. Maintaining these sites properly will also be beneficial for developing infrastructures like link roads, hotels, markets and so on. The government should increase budgetary allocations for the ministry of cultural affairs and incorporate concerned stakeholders while preparing any project of the ministry to help preserve our heritage sites, including archeological and culture ones in the country. Besides, spending for research, expedition and survey work of discovering more heritage sites should be the concern of the government. shahana_bilkis@yahoo.com