HimVani
Shimla (Aug 28): The Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) is in charge of protection and maintance of 3,676 centrally protected monuments or sites including temples which have been protected under provisions of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 in the Country including 40 in Himachal Pradesh.
Giving this information issued on behalf of minister of culture and housing, Kumari Selja, a PIB release said that ASI protect maximum 742 monuments in Uttar Pradesh, 507 Karnataka 507, 413 in Tamil Nadu 292 in Madhya Pradesh, 285 in Maharashtra, 202 in Gujarat, 174 in Delhi, 162 in Rajasthan, 137 in Andhra Pradesh, 133 in West Bengal, 90 in Haryana, 78 in Orissa, 69 in Jammu & Kashmir and 33 in Punab.
In Himachal Pradesh, Chamba district has 13 monuments under ASI, including rock sculpture depicting Sita Ram, Hanuman, etc. Laxmi Narian group of temple, Hari Ram Temple, Chamunda temple, Bansi Temple, Bajreshwari temple, Badrinath, Sita Ram temple in Mohalla Bangota, Champavati Temple, Shakti Devi temple in Chhatri, Ganesh temple, Laxmi Lakhana Devi temple, Mani Mahesh temple and Nar Singh temple in Bharmaur.
10 temples of Kangra, Temple of Ashapur, Temple of Baijnath, Temple of Sidhnath, Buddhist Stupa Known as Bhima-Ka Tila in Chaitur, Kangra fort, rock inscription of Khanyara, Fort of Kotla, Rockcut temple with sculptures at Masrur, Ruined fort of Nurpur, rock inscription of Pathiar and Lord Elgin’s tomb in Dharamshala are also under ASI.
In Kullu district, temple of Gauri Shankar with sculptures of Dasa, Temple of Basheshar Mahadev at Hat in Bajaura, a miniature stone Shiva temple of Jagatsukh, Temple of Gauri Shankar with sculptures at Naggar and Hidamba Devi Temple at Manal are under ASI.
Mandi district has Barsela monuments, Panchvaktra temple, Trilokinath temple, and Ardhareshwar temple, while three of Lahaul Spiti, Buddhist monastery in Tabo Phoo Gumpha in Tabo and Mirkula Devi temple in Udaipur are also under ASI. Hamirpur has Katoch palace at Tira Sujanpur and Narbadeshwar of Sujanpur, while temple of Mangarh in Sirmaur and the Viceregal Lodge (Rashtrapati Niwa) in Shimlaq are also under ASI.