Bundi paintings: Entry fee bump for tourists

Kota: Hundreds of tourists — foreign as well as domestic — who come to Bundi to see the miniature paintings of the world famous School of Bundi Paintings, housed in the 18th century Chitrashala, located in Taragarh Palace, are being denied free entry into the palace as the management is charging from the tourists a fee of Rs 500 for entry into the palace that leads to the Chitrashala.

The monument Chitrashala falls in the list of monuments protected by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and as per the provisions of the Archaeological Monument Act, access to ASI-protected monuments between sunrise and sunset cannot be charged or restricted.

ASI superintendent, Jaipur Circle, P L Meena wrote a letter on July 30 this year directing the Bundi district collector to ensure free entry into the ASI-protected Chitrashala, but no steps have been taken so far to ensure the free entry. “We have called a meeting on Thursday to discuss the issue and only after the meeting, I would share details on the issue,” said Bundi district collector Rukmani Riyad Sihag.

A large number of tourists coming to Bundi get disappointed when they are charged Rs 500 for entry into the Chitrashala and as a result, most of them leave without seeing the place, complained Bhanwar Hada, a tour director in Bundi. Charging a fee for entry into a structure which is a much sought-after site for tourists in Bundi discourages tourism industry here. Entry needs to be free for promotion of tourism, he added. However, the Bundi Taragarh Palace management continues to charge tourists since 2012 for entry into the Chitrashala in the name of entry fee into the palace. The concerned authorities in ASI have shot several letters to the palace’s management to allow free entry. But the palace’s management — deputed by ex-union minister and Congress leader Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, who being the son of Bundi’s erstwhile princess Mahendra Kumari, the co-sharer in imperial property, has staked his claim as successor — has stayed unmoved to ASI’s direction.

The palace’s management, however, declined to have charged tourists for entry into the Chitrashala and argued that the fee is only for entry into the palace and not for Chitrashala.

Jai Singh, the manager at Bundi Palace, said, “No entry fee from the tourist is charged for admission in Chitrashalla. However, tourist is charged a combined ticket at main entrance gate for visit to Taragarh and Garh Palace. Chitrashalla, spread in hall of 60 X 70 foots, a protected monument by ASI located in a portion of Palace is also a private property as those of Taragarh and Garh Palace, which are maintained and taken care of by Kuldevi Aashapura Mataji Trust. Tourist must pay to step into the main entrance but it is up to them to visit or what not to visit.”

The palace management ignores the fact that the Chitrashala is located metres ahead from the main entrance on the way to the palace and thus brushes aside the provisions of the Act that directs to allow entrance for free from sunrise to sunset into the ASI-protected monument, despite its being located into an area of private authority.

Notably, in response to a question raised by BJP MLA from Bundi Ashok Dogera in state assembly whether entry into the Chitrashala in Bundi Palace is chargeable, state tourism minister Vishwendra Singh in his written reply had said that the Chitrashala in Bundi Palace is an ASI-protected monument and access to the monument is free for all tourists. Tourists in the past have lodged complaints to the district administration regarding the matter and Sirsi Marnarit, a tourist from Barcelona, Spain had even lodged a complaint at Bundi city police station in September 2018, against the charging of fee for entrance into the ASI-protected monument.