Artist Mohanamurali Taluku has arrived in Shira, following an invite by the public works department in order to capture the beauty of the historical monuments - including ancient bridges and temples - on canvas. The artist is currently working on painting such structures.

Over the last week, Mohanamurali Taluku, accompanied by the secretary of the Taluk Archeological and Monuments Department, has painted pictures of the Guddadaranganathaswamy temple, Srigurugunda Brahmeshwara Mutt in Puttanayakanahalli and Krishna temples in Melukunte. Apart from these, he has also picturised several historical monuments like the Kasturi Rangappanayaka fort, Mallik Rehan dargah, the tomb of Helen, the old bridge of the fort which was inaugurated by Queen Victoria and the Honnenahalli bridge. He said he would give away all the paintings to the national archives.

Mr Taluku urged that the Public Works Department, and Kannada and Culture Department, should take out a programme to showcase the historical monuments to the youth in order to conserve them. Heritage clubs should be formed at the school level, and awareness programmes should be held. Educational institutions should come forward to help conserve these monuments, he added.

The canvases that have been painted during this programme will be exhibited at the guest houses, and the programme has been going on across the taluk for the last week, he told Deccan Herald.

Taluk Archeological and Monuments Department president Kanajanahalli Sridhar, secretary Dr s R Ramesh, literatteur Koti Chandrashekar, Professor Jayaram, Rajkumar, V N Yatish and other officials from the PWD were present from the programme.