No one to care for ancient structures, priceless paintings on campus 

The Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), which has decided to establish heritage museum on its campus, is perhaps ignorant about the oldest dome-shaped heritage structures in the varsity premises itself.

Perhaps no official of the university has ever bothered to visit the site otherwise they would have found the treasure trove with little efforts.

The priceless fresco painting in the tomb of four descendants of Fateh Singh - one of the generals in the army of legendary Maharaja Ranjit Singh situated in varsity premises are slowly vanishing from the interior walls due to negligence of the administration and the GNDU authorities.

The beautiful frescos of Krishna, the ‘supreme lord’, Sudama - his best friend during school days, ‘gopis’ the group of cow herding girls famous within Vaishnava Theology for their unconditional devotion to Krishna as described in the stories of Bhagwat Purana, have been losing sheen because of the indifference shown by one and all. The tombs contained beautiful wall paintings of Hindu Gods as well as of Sikh gurus. The other frescos are that of saints including lord Shiva and Parvati, Radha, Saint Kabir, Meera Bai, historic poetess and devotee of lord Krishna, Munshi Ditt, Gopi Chand, Sixth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Harkrishan, Tenth Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh, Narad Muni and Arjun of Mahabharata Epic.

The paintings depicting Lord Krishan and his friend and devotee Sudama on the outer walls of the tombs have already been damaged due to vagaries of weather and irresponsible behavior of the visitors who had engraved their names on the walls. The paintings just above the floor have been damaged as the plaster has chipped off from the walls. The renovation work, carried out from time to time has revealed that the care-takers of the heritage structures themselves had shown scant regard for the precious wall paintings. A portion at the centre of the floor has been dug out.

These tombs are of descendants of Fateh Singh and his relatives. These samadhs remained out of reach for common people as there was no pathway to reach these historical artifacts. The main and bigger tomb out of the four having the wall paintings was locked with iron doors that too are cracked and damaged by rust at various places. It is perhaps for this reason that the major portion of the invaluable frescos remained intact and could be preserved by taking immediate steps by repairing the damaged ones. The fungus has blackened the face of the samadh and the Iron Gate at the main.

The tombs are built of Nanakshahi bricks. The platform around the tombs have also been damaged with passage of time.

Even the water pool constructed during the reign of the Maharaja has almost disappeared and the wild grass has swathed not only the tombs but whole of the area.

The outer walls of the dome depict the architectural marvel of the seventeenth century.

Some of the young heritage enthusiasts who visit the tombs almost daily have installed small flags near the main tomb. They said that something should be done by the Department of cultural affairs, archaeology and museums to save them keeping in view their importance as part of national heritage.