The Fake Mistake // Times of India (Jan 11, 2015)

The article listed below talks about the replica made by the Tourism Department of the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. I had visited the caves a year back and had also visited the tourist center. There is no doubt that the tourist center is built beautifully and has all the necessary amenities which a public building must have. The cave replicas have been built remarkably well and it gives a sense of you having a look at the actual caves which have actually lost the charm which it had a decade back.

I was amazed to see such stuff but after reading the article many thoughts triggered in my head. As a layman I would just think the cost to build such a structure to boost tourism and on the other hand list out things in which we could upgrade the existing infrastructure. Seeing the amount that would be spent yearly for the maintenance of the fake would it not be wise to spend that much on the real caves and maintain those. The government at the end of the day can argue that the caves are not accessible for the disabled and the center was built to make it accessible for all sections but seeing the numbers present at the center i felt pity. Seeing the amount of money spend on a structure which is not even being visited by tourists is a complete waste of the tax payers money.

A fake is a fake and it makes no sense to build something which is just a couple of km away from the original. Had some thought been put and the structure built somewhere else this structure would have still made sense. The structure is built just next to the replicas and as a result the people visiting the centers are much less because the ones who visit Ajanta and Ellora visit it to see the caves and not the center. If it had been built in Aurangabad itself it would have boosted tourism further and also created a place for the people to display their art. 

Thought needs to be put when proposals are being put forward by the government and we as citizens must participate actively in such initiatives. Lastly we can at least write a letter to the ministry regarding our thoughts on the proposal. It may be ignored it may be considered but we shall not lose hoe. One day some or the other government will pay heed to its voters request.

Times of India artcile "The Fake Mistake"

Syed Rizwanullah | Jan 11, 2015, 06.01 AM IST

Some years ago, the Maharashtra Tourism Department Corporation (MTDC) had a brainwave - build replicas of Ajanta and Ellora to reduce crowding at the real heritage structures. Now, Rs 125 crore and two years later, the amateurish thermocol fakes hardly draw visitors and are a huge drain on the exchequer. 

The irony is that the MTDC spends Rs 10 crore for the upkeep of these white elephants while the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) spends Rs 1 crore on the original Unesco world heritage sites. 

Built at a cost of Rs 125 crore, the two replicas - Ajanta Visitors Centre and Ellora Visitors Centre - were meant to allow curious tourists a closer look at the treasures inside. Ajanta contains fabulous murals while Ellora is home to India's greatest collection of Hindu sculptures. Officials now admit that footfalls at the replicas barely cross double digit numbers on any given day. Now compare this to the original caves. "An average of 2,500 people visit Ajanta caves and about 5,000 visit Ellora caves each day during the tourist season,'' says Madan Singh Chouhan, superintending archeologist, Aurangabad circle, ASI. 

There are good reasons for this lack of tourist interest. For one, the replicas look nothing like the real thing. "I thought it was a factory when I saw it from a distance. It is really ugly and out of sync with the landscape," says Ashoke Sarkar, senior professor with BITS, Pilani, who visited the caves recently. 

Second, the fake structures are built very close to the caves — the Ajanta replica is 4km away from the original and the Ellora duplicate a mere 500 metres away. "Why should tourists from distant places visit a duplicate cave?'' asks Amol Basole, secretary of the Aurangabad Tourist Guides Association. "It would have been better if the replicas were set up in Aurangabad or another metro.'' 

The low footfalls mean that there is hardly any revenue generated to meet the maintenance cost. "We have given the maintenance contract for the visitor centres for Rs 6 crore. Then there is the additional monthly expenditure of Rs 10 to 15 lakh on electricity and other utilities,'' says Pandurang Kulkarni, senior regional manager, MTDC. 

Experts say there is a bigger worry — there is extensive use of thermocol, an inflammable material, in the replicas. A layer of thermocol, fitted in wire meshes and layered with Ferro cement, has been set on the concrete base of the visitor centres. The idea was to recreate the rough look of a cave wall. Thermocol has been used to create walls, pillars and ceilings and various figurines. 

"espite its advantages, polystyrene is brittle and flammable. It could also attract rats,'' says Prof Ram Mane of the department of chemistry, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. Satish Soni, joint managing director, MTDC, defends the use of thermocol. He also asserts that it was not the only material used to build the replicas. 

The pioneers of the Ajanta Ellora Development Plan say they had conceptualized something very different. "The replicas have nothing to do with the original plan, which was simple and stayed close to the old style," says Dev Mehta, former managing director of MTDC and the brain behind the plan. 

State INTACH co-convener, Mukund Bhogale, says the interpretation centre was a good concept. "But the replicas are a disappointment. The way they were executed, the way material like thermocol was extensively used, it doesnt give a good feel or experience to a tourist.'' 

One of the reasons why the replica seemed like a good idea was that visitors to the caves were never allowed to get too close to the priceless and fragile art works inside or photograph them. But visitors to the replicas too are asked to stay away from the installations. 

Kishor Nikam, a photographer, shot more than 2.5 lakh images of the original painted caves for the replicas. These were then printed on sandpaper canvas and meticulously pasted on the concrete walls. Nikam defends the MTDC's decision to not allow photography inside the replicas because flash light could cause his images to fade in 10 to 15 years. But he too concedes that his work would have had better exposure if it was displayed some distance away from the old caves.