People of Jeypore in Koraput district had at many
times raised the fear that the 40 ft. high western gate of Moti Mahal of King's
Palace in Jeypore town, South Odisha was losing its strength to stand on its
own, but no concrete step was taken by the royal family members or the district
administration for its restoration. Finally, nature had the last word with the
gate collapsing on September 02 after it failed to withstand a continuous spell
of rain.
The eye catching design of the arch with adjoining
walls have shielded the Durbar Mahal from the outside world the since 1936 .
While nothing in this regard was written on the
gate, there was information about the Mahal being inaugurated in 1936, said
Paresh Rath , a researcher on the history of Jeypore kingdom. The historic town of Jeypore has many large and
small buildings and structures which are not being cared for by the decedents
of the culture loving people of the erstwhile kingdom.
No concrete initiatives have been taken by the
people of the district to force the State or the Archaeological Society of
India to take adequate care of the structures like the palace or the Vikramdeb
College that are symbols of Jeypore’s rich cultural heritage.
Lessons can be learnt from Andhra University in
Visakhapatnam where the entire science block of the university was named after
Vikram Deb Verma and utmost care was taken to see that the building carried the
richness of his memories well.
“The collapse of this gate has opened many gates of
hope for preservation of existing historical structures in the town,” Mr.Rath
added. Source: The Hindu
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