There is a need to understand the importance of cultural heritage and contribute towards its preservation.

Tahir Kamaal Siddiqui - Indore

World Heritage Week is being celebrated with the objective of increasing awareness about archaeological heritage. Under this, a series of lectures was organized in the Central Museum Indore under the aegis of Madhya Pradesh Directorate of Archaeology, Archives and Museums, Bhopal. The guests inaugurated the series of lectures by garlanding the picture of Goddess Saraswati and lighting a lamp.

Dr. HR was the keynote speaker. Patidar (Professor and Head of Department, Tourism IPS Academy), Dr. Mrs. Sandhya Bhargava (Professor and Head of Department (History Department, Government Atal Bihari Arts and Commerce College), Senior Numismatist Girish Sharma 'Aditya' and Astik Bhardwaj (Project Coordinator, IGNC) were present. On this occasion, Senior Numismatist Girish Sharma 'Aditya' announced to establish a currency museum by donating his huge coin collection. He also inspired the youth to understand cultural heritage and identity, so that they know the importance of their history and culture and preserve it. In his lecture, Dr. HR Patidar explained the need to understand the importance of cultural heritage or monuments and contribute to their preservation. He highlighted the importance of preservation of archaeological monuments as well as the problems and impact related to them.

In her address on the subject of archaeology in history, Dr. Sandhya Bhargava enlightened the audience with various examples, showing the importance of archaeological evidence such as inscriptions, coins and architecture in the creation of history. In the same sequence, Astik Bhardwaj, while introducing the IGNC institution, shared his experiences about why conservation of archaeological objects is necessary and its various techniques. He also explained through a power point presentation. After the completion of the lecture series, the students of Government Atal Bihari Arts and Commerce College and IPS Academy visited the museum.

Apart from students and researchers, Dr. S.K. Bhatt (historian), Himanshu Dudhvadkar (architectural consultant), Praveen Srivastava (chemist), Yogesh Pal (curator-in-charge, Ujjain) were present in the lecture series. At the end of the lecture series, Prakash Paranjape (Deputy Director, Archaeological Archives and Museum, Indore) expressed his gratitude to all the speakers and the audience present on behalf of the department. During the World Heritage Week, the eagerness to know about the heritage was seen among the city dwellers.