Barsoor – the lost ancient city of Dandakarnya Bastar presently in Chhattisgarh.

Barsoor – the situation

Barsoor which is known as the city of temple and ponds is one of the important heritage sites of Chhattisgarh. It stands tall for glorious 700 years as the capital city of Gang, Nal and Nag dynasty. After the Chalkuya dynasty shifted the capital to Tarlagud (current Dantewada), Unfortunately, with time, Barsoor lost the glory and much of the archaeological heritage went to grim condition. Though, few of the sites were conserved by the ASI and State Archaeological department. Still a maximum of the sites are yet to get their due importance.

So, what Unexplored Bastar is doing to conserve the heritage along with the help and support of District Administration Dantewada, APS, India Heritage walks, local SHGs and importantly the people of Barsoor 

Working closely with District Administration Dantewada for creating the basic tourist specific infrastructure like developing homestays, campsites, tourist information centre, toilets 

Formation of Barsoor Tourism SHGs for the conservation and awareness of heritage

4 years ago with the help of APS, an NGO and local administration we formed the Self Help Group (SHG) of 20 youths named Barsoor Paryatan Samuh. They are acting as a guide we call them Parytak Sahayak.

They look after the monuments, do the cleanliness of the site, give the historical information to tourists, explore the region for more sites

Commencing Barsoor Heritage Walks

Conducting heritage walks regularly with supporting an organization like India Heritage Walks, Sahapedia. In the heritage walk, we take visitors to more than 15 places which have the heritage importance thus creating awareness among people about Barsoors rich heritage.     

Awareness at Schools of Barsoor

Team of Unexplored Bastar along with Barsoor Tourism SHG take regular sessions at Schools at Barsoor along with SHGs under our initiative TECA (Tourism, Environment, Cultural Awareness) program. Wherein, we conduct Q&A with students and tell them the unique stories about Barsoor and its importance. We believe that locals and specially the young will play important role in conservation of the heritage. Sometimes, we also take responsible tourists for the interaction with students. 

Conservation of temples by expert intervention

Recently under the Mocho Dharohar initiative of District Administration Dantewada roped in Heritage Conservation experts Shivani Sharma.  The expert team selected three temples Solah Kambha, Paidama Gudi and Surya temple for the primary conservation.

The approach of conservation taken by the removal of excessive vegetation on site, locating, and identifying the fragments of the dilapidated temples followed up by detailed on-site documentation of the temples and the fragments identified. The work is going on and might complete by year end 2021.

Unexplored Bastar is committed for the conservation of Heritage. If you also want to be part of our initiative then you can write to us at contact@unexploredbastar.com