Guwahati, May 27: The holiest shrine in the Northeast and the pride of Assam, Kamakhya temple, is all set for greater glory.
The Centre has set into motion the process for designating the temple ? revered as the seat of tantric cult in the country ? as a ?monument of national heritage? and bring it under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
ASI sources said the Haigrib-Madhav temple in Hajo would also be brought under the agency?s protection. The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Vishnu with the head of a horse.
The Kamakhya temple atop the Nilachal hills was built in 1565 by Koch King Naranarayan on the ruins of the original which was destroyed by the invading army of Kalapahar. On an average, nearly 2,500 pilgrims visit the temple daily on weekdays while the number swells to 3,000 on holidays.
Union minister of tourism Jagmohan is very keen to put Kamakhya temple on the heritage list and develop it as a pilgrimage site of international standards, sources in the ASI said.
The superintending archaeologist of the ASI?s Guwahati circle Syed Jamal Hasan submitted a proposal on May 6 to the director-general of the ASI, New Delhi, for bringing the temple under its jurisdiction.
Hasan?s proposal ? through letter number ? 4/14A/2001/02(m)411-12 ? has been backed up by a five-page report on the history and present condition of the temple.
The proposal has been put under provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, and Rules 1959.
An ASI official said over phone from Delhi that ?an official notification would be issued as soon as a few hitches are overcome?.
The proposal envisages a sum of Rs 1 lakh for annual maintenance of the temple as well as Rs 5 lakh initially for ?special repairs?.
At present, the ASI looks after 73 monuments in the Northeast of which 50 are in Assam.
Director-general of ASI Kasturi Gupta Menon had visited the temple in December last year and expressed dismay at the lack of ?scientific preservation? of rare artefacts in the temple as well as the haphazard construction inside the structure.
Hasan said once under ASI control, all shops inside the temple complex as well as other constructions will have to be demolished.
After Menon?s visit, the ASI?s Guwahati circle had offered several suggestions to the Kamakhya Debuttar Board, which looks after the affairs of the temple for proper maintenance of the shrine.