By Brij Khandelwal, IANS
Agra : As the Taj Mahal fights for a place among the seven wonders of the world, the cremation ground near the love memorial is being given a facelift by artists here.
Students of the Lalit Kala Sansthan of Agra University, members of a local organisation – Village of Arts – and individual art lovers have come forward to paint a wall along the half kilometre road leading to the cremation ground known as "Moksh Dham".
The paintings deal with nature, religion and spirituality. There will be some modern art pieces also.
"Our goal is to make the visit to the cremation ground a virtual pilgrimage. People should get peace of mind and contentment. No Indian city has such a picturesque and artistic cremation site," Chitralekha Singh, director of the Lalit Kala Sansthan, told IANS.
The artists will also paint nine incarnations of Devi Durga along with Bharat Mata, she said.
"We will have more than 150 oil paintings depicting all shades of nature's moods, seasons and spiritual symbols. Girls who initially hesitated to come to the venue are now working overtime pouring all their creative imagination. An 11 year-old physically challenged girl, Arpita, is also doing a painting.
"One immediate advantage has been that the whole place has become clean and people hesitate to litter the area. Close to the Taj Mahal a lot of foreigners are turning up to see our paintings which should last at least for five years."
Since the city does not have an art gallery despite persistent demands by local artistes, the paintings will also serve as a mark of protest by them.
The Kshetra Bajaja Committee, a voluntary organisation which provides funeral materials to the people in the cremation ground, also plans to develop a small garden of basil and fragrant flowers there.
The cremation ground located in the Taj Ganj area here is more than 400 years old. A new electric crematorium has come up in the neighbourhood but people still prefer the traditional way of cremating bodies with firewood.
The site is unique, sandwiched between the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal, with the Yamuna flowing near it.
Several efforts were made in the past to shift the cremation ground but stiff resistance by the locals has stalled the initiative.
Eminent scientist S. Varadarajan, who headed an experts' committee to examine a pollution threat to the Taj Mahal, had also suggested that the cremation ground be shifted.