Telangana wins global laurels, two initiatives bag UNESCO award

Stepwells in the Qutb Shahi Tomb complex at Golconda were selected for the Award of Distinction, while Domakonda Fort in Kamareddy was selected for the Award of Merit

Hyderabad: Telangana‘s efforts at restoring and conserving heritage has won more global laurels with two initiatives from the State winning UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

The list of the 2022 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation announced at Bangkok on Saturday included the Stepwells in the Qutb Shahi Tomb complex at Golconda, which were selected for the Award of Distinction, while the Domakonda Fort in Kamareddy was selected for the Award of Merit.

A total of 13 projects from six countries, Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal and Thailand, were acknowledged for the awards this year. The international jury had deliberated and reviewed a total of 50 entries from 11 countries from across the Asia-Pacific region.

The State government along with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture had taken up the works related to the historic stepwells dating back to the 17th century inside the Qutb Shahi Tomb complex in 2013. The restoration of six stepwells at the tomb complex, which is spread over 106 acres, was taken up with Rs 400 crore and the recent restoration function was attended by MA&UD Minister KT Rama Rao. The initiative had fully restored six baolis, Badi, Hamam, Bagh, Western, Idgah and Eastern.

The Domakonda Fort project, a private initiative, has successfully restored cultural space for the community and the project received appreciation for creating community pride. Conservation architect Anuradha Naik was the chief consultant for the fort project, a private initiative undertaken by Anil Kamineni, one of the descendants of the erstwhile Domakonda Samasthan family and his wife Shobana, with required permissions from the Archaeology Department.

The work at Domakonda Fort commenced in 2011 and were mostly completed by 2022. Local craftsmen were trained to a high level of proficiency and locally sourced material was used to the greatest extent.