The
central portion of Indian peninsula, or to be more specific, the doab
region between two mighty rivers, Krishna and Godavari, is known by
a common name as Deccan. In the year 1294, Delhi Sultan Allauddin
Khilji defeated Yadav kings and Muslim power was established over
Deccan for the first time. In the year 1347, Bahmani empire was
established in the Deccan and there were clear signs that
Islamization of the Deccan would now be complete. However two Hindu
Kings, Harihar and Bukka from Sangma dynasty, established a Hindu
kingdom on the bank of river Tungbhadra in the year 1336 and managed
to block the spread of Islamic rule for next 200 years very
effectively. After this period the Vijayanagara army was defeated by
combined armies of five Sultans of local Islamic kingdoms. This led
to the total destruction of the once magnificent city of Vijayanagar
and it was turned into a heap of rubble and ruins. In spite of that,
the ruins are still worth visiting and thousands of tourists from all
over the world throng there, almost every day. In the destroyed city,
there are two smaller temples towards east of famous Bal Krishna
temple. One of them is the temple of Lord Nrisimha in an angry mood.
This temple was completely renovated by the Archeological Department,
but then they realised that restoration was against their standard
policy and all the work done was undone and the temple now remains
as it has been for last 500 years.
The
point, I am trying to make here is that ever since 1920s, when
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) came out with a conservation
manual for ancient monuments, outlining the approach towards
preserving centuries-old buildings, it has been a policy of ASI, not
to encourage restoration of any monuments and conserve or preserve
old monuments in situ or conserve them as they have been, whether as
ruins or in form of rubble.
In my
home town Pune, the most glorious symbol of past, that still stands
today, are the ramparts of 'Shaniwarwada,' the historic mansion of
Peshawas, who ruled over most of the Indian peninsula from
seventeenth to beginning of nineteenth century. The historical
complex is said to have had a structure, seven-storeys high and was
built of of teak wood. Unfortunately, this palace complex, which
consisted of several grand buildings, were burnt down in devastating
fires roughly 10 years after the British took control in 1817. What
remains inside the ramparts, are the stone plinths of the buildings,
indicating the areas covered by these mansions.
To
make the matters worst, no one even has a painting ( except for a
view from a long distance showing some tall buildings inside the
ramparts) or a photograph, which would show how these mansions looked
like? How they were constructed? And so on. Fortunately there are
descriptions
available,
again from records of British officers, about the lavishness and
decorations inside the palace. But that is all!
It
would be impossible even to attempt restoration of the original
mansions, as no one can authentically say that these are the
photographs or paintings or original construction plans and
restoration work should follow these. In addition, as per
conservation policy of ASI, Shaniwarwada is an important heritage
building and ASI would never allow any restoration work at all.
With
this background in mind, I am rather surprised at a resolution passed
by the standing committee of the Pune municipal corporation or the
Local Government in Pune, which wants to restore the 'Shaniwarwada.'
It appears that the corporators, who took this decision are not aware
of the facts or they are trying to play some smart political game. In
addition they want to entrust this work, to a well known creator of
cardboard sets used for filming Bollywood films. This man is no doubt
a gifted artist and some of his works are really breath taking. Yet
when, no picture or painting or plan is available of the original
structure, whatever he creates, even if grand, would be only from his
imagination, like a film set, and would have no historic significance
and value.
I hope
that general body of the Municipal corporation would consider these
facts and drop the plan at earliest. In any case, as ASI is unlikely
to approve of any such plan, the local body would have to construct
it outside of the ramparts of 'Shaniwarwada,' making it just a show
piece without any real historic value
25
September 2013
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