My story
Travel has been a passion for me for over forty years and you have guessed it- I am an oldie in that sense and in real life too. My travels of course started with collection of printed maps which I still treasure to an extent. Google maps came and I have stuck to it like glue, being of tremendous use in taking me to my passion destinations of Heritage sites and National Parks. I live in Kochi in the state of Kerala in South India and my country has 36 UNESCO World Heritage sites. These are well documented and marked in Google maps. I have visited 26 of the sites and no words are enough to appreciate the efforts taken by UNESCO and the Archaeological Society of India (ASI) to preserve them for posterity. I am impressed by UNESCO mission and quote them “Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritages are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration.”
The 7 UNESCO world heritage sites in South India (the geographical area I am going to concentrate in sharing) are- Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Group of Monuments at Hampi, Churches and Convents of Goa, Great Living Chola Temples (at Thanjavur, Gangaikondacholapuram, Darasuram), Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Mountain Railways of India (part at Nilgiris), Western Ghats.
I am attaching some photos of 5 of the above Heritage sites in South India. Travelling in motorized vehicles with Google maps guiding you in your all knowing mobile phone and then getting down in these heritage sites takes you to an era gone by; where everything stands still now but imagine the activities there thousand years back. One can only marvel at the architecture, skill and time taken for the precision in rock sculptures, and wonder as to the construction methods used in those ages. Many of these sites are non worshipping temples and unfortunately my countrymen will throng to the live temples where pilgrimage is business but not to the monuments of our heritage. The UNESCO heritages depend on grants plus the very nominal entry fees for their costly upkeep. That will bring me to my mission of “Footprints to Sustain Heritage” by sharing places on Google map.
My Footprints or Mission (What I intend to share in Google Maps)
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The present generation is less religiously oriented and the youngsters are very much into travelling with self drives on the increase. By sharing these already recognized heritage sites region wise with focus on national pride and the growing awareness on need to sustain for future, I foresee the youngsters will travel to these sites and convert them into Tourist destinations rather than religious. I am hoping that foot falls to these sites will increase and generate more income and lead to commercial development of these far flung places (as in the above pictures) into tourist places.
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India is a country known for its ancient civilization, culture and trade. There are several old temples, churches and forgotten or buried cities in South India that have been in existence for centuries but have fallen into neglect or lacked proper recognition of their heritage value. Some of these are maintained under ASI or some local society; but are seldom visited. More than that, these places of cultural or historic importance are in a dilapidated condition either forgotten or ignored. As awareness grows I am sure many of these sites would be further researched and evaluated. As time goes by and perceptions change, Heritage may become the rallying point for unity and lead to their preservation along with conservation of nature. My main mission therefore focuses on identifying such unknown and less known places and sharing them on Google maps with descriptions that will enable gaining prominence for development, sponsorship and maybe even recognition by UNESCO at a later stage. The ASI alone cannot take care of them unless more sustainable ways are created by society at large. After all world’s heritage belongs to everybody irrespective of its territory and by this even Google can lend a hand in identifying and sustaining these as it is very much part of “Google Earth”. I am attaching few photos of such places for an idea.
Methodology
Information on Mission 2 above requires passing down of information from generation to generation. Few among the elderly who have the wisdom or knowledge on such matters are digitally savvy. My interest in this line has been nurtured by an elder relative who is a destination expert guide in heritages, but now out of business due to not being computer literate or confident to walk it alone due to age and financial worries. I have to continue maintaining ties with such knowledgeable sources to get authentic data and go about sharing them on Google Maps, thereby achieving recognition to such places. I hope to use my experience as a traveler and role as a Google local guide to effectively link such people centric knowledge with Google maps for the benefit of all.
So please join me in making footprints ? to create more footfalls? for sustaining our Heritage.