Facelift for Roerich Estate in Kullu valley in pipeline

The Roerich Estate in the Kullu valley could get a massive facelift in the near future. The International Centre of the Roerichs (ICR), located in Moscow, has chalked out an exhaustive restoration and rebuilding plan for the estate. It hopes to start implementing the plan on the 150th birth anniversary of Nicholas Roerich, the great Russian artist, thinker and peacemaker. He spent the last 20 years of his life in this estate, which houses his works along with those of his wife Helena Roerich and their son Svetoslav Nikolayevich.

“We have planned the restoration of the existing building, construction of a new museum, new building for the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute and accommodation for the scientists and workers at the museum,” said Alexander V Stetsenko, the vice-president of the Moscow-based ICR. He is here for the exhibition of the artist’s work, marking his 150th birth anniversary in Shimla. “The ICR has done its bit and now we are looking forward to the state government to support this initiative,” Stetsenko said.

Pankaj Lalit, Director, Department of Language and Culture, said the matter would be tabled in the next meeting of the Board of Directors of the International Roerich Memorial Trust (IRMT), which manages the Roerich estate. “We are aware of the expectations of the ICR and will discuss the matter in IRMT’s next meeting, which is chaired by the CM,” the director said.

Incidentally, both ICR and IRMT were founded on the initiative of Nicholas Roerich’s son Svetoslav Nikolayevich in the 1990s, with the objective of preserving and promoting the heritage of Roerich and his ideas about peace and culture. “Nikolayevich was implementing the idea of his father when he founded these institutes. In 1942, Roerich met two future Indian Prime Ministers, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, with whom he discussed future cultural cooperation between India and Russia. These two organisations are now the cultural bridges between India and Russia,” said Stetsenko

While claiming that ICR and IRMT were doing their best to promote the works and ideals of Roerich, Stetsenko regretted that most governments were not ready to follow Roerich’s idea of fostering peace through culture and adopt Roerich Pact, which calls for the protection of cultural heritage, both material and human, in the time of peace and war. “Most conflicts and differences between the countries are being solved through the use of guns and arms. So, it’s important that Roerich’s idea of bringing peace through culture is propagated and popularised among people across the globe,” said Stetsenko.