New Delhi: Officials familiar with the matter said paintings of Draupadi, Sita, Razia Sultana, Akka Mahadevi, Ahilya Holkar and other women from India’s mythology and history adorn the walls of the new Parliament building being built as part of the Central Vista redevelopment project. can increase. ,
“Keeping in mind the celebration of 75 years of independence, the government is considering displaying the images of 75 women from the Vedic period to 1947,” an official said on condition of anonymity. “These would include paintings and descriptions of who these women were and the role they played in Indian history.”
A second official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said how many women would be depicted and how the pictures would be displayed were yet to be decided. The Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts organized an exhibition in memory of 75 eminent women earlier this year.
As part of the Central Vista redevelopment project, the government is building a new Parliament building, new residences for the Vice President and the Prime Minister and the Central Secretariat buildings that will house around 51 ministries. It is also redeveloping Rajpath.
While the Parliament building is expected to be ready by October, the redevelopment of Central Avenue will be completed by the end of June. Work on three of the 10 secretariat buildings started last year.
The list of women includes Ahilya Holkar, the 18th-century Maratha queen, Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandavas in the Mahabharata, Sita, the wife of Rama from the Ramayana, and Vedic era poets and sages such as Aditi, Appala and Rishi. Gargi.
The paintings may also include Laleshwari, a medieval Shaivite poet from Kashmir. Other paintings likely to be on display are Mirabai, a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna, Razia Sultana, who ruled Delhi in the 13th century, and Akka Mahadevi, a 12th-century Kannada poet.
