MP Rare Feat: Vidisha Village Becomes Home To 10 Protected Monuments

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The silence of the past speaks aloud in the mundane present in Udaipur village in Vidisha district, which boasts of 10 protected archaeological monuments.

Udaipur - a village with a population of 6,600 (census 2011) in Ganj Basoda tehsil already has six protected monuments - one by Archaeological Survey of India and five by the state government. Now, the state government has notified four more monuments in the village as protected, taking the total number of protected monuments to 10.

The state government has notified Udayasagar Lake, Ganesh Temple, Hill Fort and an ancient stepwell in the village as protected monuments. The four new heritage sites were discovered during conservation work of ancient Garhi Palace, a state-protected monument located in Udaipur. After being notified as state-protected monuments, a plan for their conservation, maintenance, and preservation is underway.

This project will include restoration, monitoring, excavation, and restrictions on construction in the surrounding areas to safeguard the heritage for the future.

Neelkanthshwar Mahadev Temple in the village is already an ASI monument. In addition, five other structures are included in the list of state-protected monuments including Pisanhari Temple, ancient palace, royal court and Moti Masjid. With the new notification the total number will reach 10.

The ASI-protected Neelkanthshwar Temple houses a nine-metre-tall Nataraja statue carved from a single stone. The Udaipur Hill Fort has remnants of Parmar-era military architecture.

Urmila Shukla, commissioner, archaeology, archives & museums said, "We have notified four new monuments in Udaipur as state-protected. A small village having 10 protected monuments is rare. The area around Udaipur was inhabited without a break for almost 1,000 years. It s very rich in archaeological wealth."