Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday unveiled a statue of the philosopher-saint Acharya Abhinavagupt in Jammu, an occasion that also saw the launch of a new logo for the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, the release of two books, and the inauguration of a long-awaited welfare scheme for artists and writers. The Lieutenant Governor described the gathering as the beginning of a cultural renaissance aimed at reawakening the soul of the Union Territory.
Addressing the audience, the Lieutenant Governor said the welfare scheme for artists and writers, first conceived in 2021-22 and formally notified in August 2024, was a tangible expression of the nation’s gratitude toward those who preserve collective memory through stories, songs and traditions passed down across generations. He described artists and writers as guardians of society’s collective memory, who have given voice to Jammu and Kashmir’s culture and shouldered the responsibility of carrying the region’s heritage forward, adding that honouring them amounted to honouring the Union Territory’s own civilisation and identity.
The Lieutenant Governor paid rich tribute to Acharya Abhinavagupt as a philosopher, spiritual practitioner, poet and master of aesthetics whose contributions to Kashmir Shaivism and Pratyabhijna philosophy remained confined largely to scholarly circles for centuries. He termed this prolonged neglect a form of damage to civilisational memory and called for correcting historical oversights so that the country’s youth could access the depth of the intellectual heritage they have inherited. Referring to Abhinavagupt’s seminal work Tantraloka and his theory of rasa, the Lieutenant Governor said art functions as a doorway to inner awakening, reflecting a uniquely Indian vision in which art, life and the pursuit of truth remain inseparable.
The Lieutenant Governor congratulated Dr Vaidehi Taman for her book on Abhinavagupt and Akriti Sharma for her work documenting the hidden heritage of the Raghunath Temple at Channi Parat, Sunderbani, describing both as important contributions linking Jammu and Kashmir’s heritage to India’s wider civilisational consciousness. He noted that the Raghunath Temple, begun under Maharaja Gulab Singh and completed under Maharaja Ranbir Singh, exemplified the region’s rich tangible heritage, and called on universities, schools and cultural institutions to introduce young people to thinkers like Abhinavagupt as living voices relevant to contemporary questions of consciousness and creativity.
He urged greater institutional and private support for research and publishing in this field, saying such scholarly work deserved active encouragement rather than passive appreciation, and expressed hope that the two newly released books would find readers across the country. The ceremony was attended by MLA Arvind Gupta, Principal Secretary Culture Brij Mohan Sharma, Director Anti-Corruption Bureau Shakti Kumar Pathak, Divisional Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar, IGP Jammu Tejinder Singh, Deputy Commissioner Jammu Dr Rakesh Minhas, IGNCA Regional Director Shruti Awasthi, JKAACL Secretary Harvinder Kour, along with literary figures and citizens from various walks of life.
