Jammu Festival sans Mubarak Mandi disappoints residents

Restoration work by Archaeological Survey of India prohibits cultural activity at heritage site

While Jammu Festival returns to the region after a decade promising a four-day fiesta of fun, music, dance and culture starting April 13, it, however, will bring along a conspicuous miss with monumental Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex not participating in the festivity.
The reason: Ongoing preservation and restoration work prohibits any activity at the venue that may cause damage to the fragile structure.
This has led to disappointment among people of Jammu who have been regular visitors to the “nerve centre heritage” of the city during all earlier Jammu Festivals that presented treasure trove of Dogra heritage and culture during the festivity.
“Earlier also restoration and preservation of the heritage site was in progress when the last festival was held here. The stalls, stage and other allied equipment was erected at a distance where performers performed and people cherished the Dogra cuisines while having the glimpse of the cultural heritage of our region,” said Sonia Sharma, a resident of Panjtirthi.
The Tourism Department, the nodal agency that is conducting the Jammu Festival, however is planning to give this cultural heritage a buoyed look by illuminating the whole Mubarak Mandi on the occasion, sans activity, to include it in the festival.
“Since restoration and preservation works are on at the heritage site, we have kept it out of the festival to avoid any damage to the structure,” said Sushma Chauhan, Director Tourism.
A joint House panel on Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex, headed by its chairman Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, had visited the heritage site where the work of restoration is in progress. The panel inspected the pace of work and sought details of its execution and allied works from the functionaries concerned.
“Since the past many years the restoration works have been going on at the site. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has taken up the job, but it is quite unfortunate that works are going at a snail’s pace and the authorities concerned are not bothered,” said one of the panel members. He said the panel would submit its findings to the government after the byelections to two parliamentary seats in the state.
Legislators Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Ajaz Ahmad Khan, Rajesh Gupta, Pawan Kumar Gupta and Ashok Khajuria are the panel members.
The panel had also expressed concern over the slow progress of the project and called upon the functionaries concerned to speed up the pace so that the restoration works are executed in time. It issued specific instructions to the authorities to closely monitor the quality of works to ensure that the original architectural features of the site are preserved.
Academician and convener of the Dogri Advisory Board Sahitya Akademi Lalit Magotra termed the upcoming festival as a “festival without heart”.
“Best Jammu Festivals so far have been those which focused their activities at the Mubarak Mandi heritage site, because the site has a traditional and emotional connect with the people of Jammu. Without Mubarak Mandi’s participation in the festival, the emotional impact will be missing,” said Lalit Magotra.
Ashok Khajuria, BJP MLC, who is also a panel member, admitted that slow work on the Mubarak Mandi heritage site is a cause of concern. “Though the ASI is doing its job, the progress is quite slow,” he said.