Publication: Times Of India Jaipur; Date: Jun 1, 2009; Section: Times City; Page: 3
History being tampered with in the name of restoration, say experts
Jaipur Losing Heritage At Quick Pace
Rachna Singh | TNN
Jaipur: Almost 300 years of history, and an important destination on the “Golden Triangle” travel circuit, Jaipur at a quick pace is losing its heritage ambience with large-scale renovation of historical monuments. And you might be in for a rude shock to see the 17th century monuments as fresh as if they came up only yesterday, with all traces of history, age and time being buried under thick layers of lime.
The kings would be turning in their graves and wishing the 21st century would not try their lack of expertise in restoration. For, in a bid to restore, and in the name of conservation, important historical monuments are being plundered.
With the recent conservation work at the Bharmal Ki Chattri, the disaster is more than evident. The flooring that didn’t need any attention has been undone just to be re-done again! The inside of the domes has been freshly white-washed with thick coats of lime on intricate stone carving thereby ruining it. Then the stone on the dome facade has been pulled out to be replaced with a coat of Surkhi and Chuna.
“It’s already too late. With Amber Fort as a case in point, all restoration work should be immediately stopped if we don’t want to lose our valuable heritage. Imagine the Collosseum at Rome being renovated to give it a fresh look. What would be left of it?” said Rashmi Dickenson a former British bureaucrat who runs the NGO Amber Trust.
Voicing deep concern and shock Amita Beg, India consultant for the World Monument Fund (WMF), said, “It is a disaster.” Royal vestiges of heritage monuments have always been a USP for Rajasthan and the sole reason for any tourist to visit the city. “But in the absence of any expert guidance, benign neglect of monuments would be a blessing in disguise. This is turning disastrous for the monuments,” feel some city experts.
According to sources associated with the project, “The contractor handling the restoration work from Rajputana Constructions does not follow the right procedure and generally skips a few mandatory steps. Most of the time at the end of the project, heavy bills are raised, but most of the material dismantled at one site is raken to be re-used at another.”
At the Bharmal ki Chattri, with a project sanction of 60 lakh for restoration, most of the material, allege sources, has been brought from the other sites and what is dismantled here will be taken away to the other sites.
The Department of Archaeology and Museums, however had no clear explanation and denied white-washing the interior of the dome!
“The work is supervised by contractors who have been in this line for many years. And how can the material from here be carried out? There is a security guard of the City Palace posted there all the time,” said B K Sharma, executive engineer looking after the execution of the project.
Explaining the conservation process, Niranjan Sharma also from the office of the executive engineer said, “The dome that is given a coating of lime and Khamira was originally a marble one and hence already white. We have only done the repairing of the dome plaster, cladding on the roof that was falling off every monsoon with a 3-4 inch gap.”
So far more than 50 monuments throughout Rajasthan have been identified for restoration work under the 12th Finance Commission but no specialists or experts in conservation have been consulted. Besides, Amber city is among the 100 most-endangered sites of the World Monument Watch, visited by more than 3,000 visitors a day.
With “heritage lost” in the name of restoration, Jaipur and more so Amber will soon lose on the essential historical character that the tourists come seeking here.
LOST IN RENOVATION: At Bharmal Ki Chattri, a renovated chattri and an untouched one
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