A call to action: Restoration of ancient idols must be a public-private effort

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There are idols to be restored, and some whose heads are completely missing. Take the Shiva Nataraja in Gajahasta mudra – resembling an elephant’s trunk – at the Gaya museum in Bihar.

Casual visitors may not even recognise the idol as one of Shiva. Thankfully, a very similar Pala-era depiction from the 9th century, now housed at the Bangladesh National Museum in Dhaka, shows what it might have looked like. Both images have Shiva’s vehicle Nandi turning its head upward, admiring the deity’s cosmic dance.

There are numerous headless Buddha idols at Sanchi too, as well as numerous severed heads and limbs that have been uncovered here. What is needed is collective will to restore these ancient remnants.

In cases where it is deemed appropriate, augmented reality could be used to bring statues back to life. As one enters the Kailashnath temple in Ellora, for instance, one is greeted by a row of terribly damaged stone elephants. All of these, including the entire temple precinct, could be virtually restored.

Augmented reality would require a simple app and some graphic design, and a smartphone could allow the visitor to experience, in 3D, our best guess of what the Kailashnath temple originally looked like, when it was created 1,300 years ago.

The same technology could be deployed at the Elephanta caves, where every idol but for the Shiva Trimurti is terribly damaged, and it could be deployed at numerous sites across the country.

This would also generate interest in a new generation. What better way to pay respect to an idol once worshipped than to bring it to life again, in a whole new world?

With the right intent, funding may not be a big issue in this restoration project. Regular individuals could “adopt” idols either individually or collectively, while companies and trusts could bequeath some of their funds.

We, as the people of India, ought to take up restoration of extant idols and temples at the earliest as a mark of respect to our shared history and common ancestry. Otherwise, we stand the risk of future generation becoming completely disinterested in our shared heritage. And that would be both tragic and terrible.

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