A high level Cultural team from France led by the former French Culture Minister Mr. Renaud Donnedieu de Vaber today called on the Punjab Minister Parkash Singh Badal and evinced keen interest in restoration work of ancient monuments and cultural heritage sites in the state.During the discussions with the Chief Minister here at his residence this afternoon, the Chief Minister offered the visiting team to take up the restoration work of the prestigious Jagatjit Palace at Kapurthala, which was living and classic example of the French architectural grandeur. He asked the entire team to visit Kapurthala to have on the spot assessment at the site along with top officials of the State Tourism and Cultural Affairs department and Punjab Heritage & Tourism Promotion Board before taking up the restoration of this historic cultural site.
Badal also apprised the visiting team that he was an ardent lover of preserving cultural legacy and glorious heritage of the state, to name few Virasat-e-Khalsa at Sri Anandpur Sahib, the upcoming Jang-e-Azadi memorial at Kartarpur near Jalandhar and War Heroes Memorial cum museum at Amritsar were the state of the monuments which would go down a long in the annals of Indian cultural history.The Chief Minister informed the team that the Jagatjit Palace and the Murish mosque needed restoration from world class architects and therefore the state wants to entrust this gigantic task to them as they had vast experience and expertise in the field of French architecture. Moreover, he said that it would be a humble effort on the part of state government to preserve the age old art, architectural and cultural legacy of the Kapurthala state, which was once a finest and legendary example of ancient French architecture. Mr. Badal further sought their cooperation in the field of health and education and invited them to set up finest institutions of learning and healthcare in the upcoming Educity and Medicity in New Chandigarh (Mullanpur).
Highly buoyed over the Chief Minister’s concern for preservation of state’s cultural heritage, Mr. Vaber assured him that he would personally monitor the entire restoration project of Jagatjit Palace after undertaking preliminary visit to the site. He also agreed to the proposal of Mr. Badal to open a exquisite showroom of furniture in SAS Nagar or Ludhiana displaying the best modern as well as antique French furniture.Prominent amongst other present on the occasion included Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. SK Sandhu, Executive Director Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board Mr. Basanta Rajkumar besides the other members of team comprising Mr. Patrick Seguina and Mr. Yohann Marcet.