The demolition of the Seventeenth-century Mubarak Manzil, a Mughal heritage web site, by an Agra-based builder, has sparked outrage amongst many, together with famed India-based Scottish historian William Dalrymple.
The razing of Mubarak Manzil in Agra, in collusion with police and administrative officers, speaks volumes concerning the unhappy state of historical monuments and archaeological websites in our nation.
It has been reported that other than Mubarak Manzil, no less than three different historic websites have been demolished or naturally destroyed up to now 4 months in Agra. These included the Shahi Hammam (1620), Zohra Bagh, and a 500-year-old Ibrahim Lodhi-era mosque.
A flabbergasted Dalrymple posted: “It is virtually as if India goes out of its strategy to destroy its enchantment as a vacationer vacation spot. Neglect your primary heritage centres, permit builders to raze all its heritage properties, after which be stunned when this nice nation has fewer vacationers than Dubai or Singapore…”
India, one of many oldest civilisations on the planet, has a treasure trove of historical heritage monuments and websites that date again centuries. These monuments stand as a testomony to the architectural brilliance of their respective eras and supply a glimpse into India’s wealthy cultural heritage.
Dalrymple is true when he says that regardless of having a wealthy cultural heritage, India is attracting fewer worldwide vacationers because the nation is neglecting its heritage monuments.
Misplaced Glory
We proudly showcase world-renowned monuments and websites just like the Taj Mahal in Agra or, for instance, Hampi in Karnataka to vacationers. Nonetheless, behind these few well-preserved monuments lie a slew of quite a few heritage buildings and websites in a dilapidated situation – unaccounted for, destroyed, and misplaced perpetually.
In response to the Ministry of Tradition web site, as of January 2025, India has greater than 3,696 historical monuments and archaeological websites of nationwide significance. These monuments are protected and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The ASI is liable for the analysis, conservation, and upkeep of those monuments beneath the AMASR (Historic Monuments and Archaeological Websites and Stays) Act, 1958. The Act protects monuments and websites which are greater than 100 years previous.
An array of buildings, together with prehistoric websites, Stone Age rock shelters, Neolithic websites, megalithic burial websites, rock-cut caves, stupas, temples, mosques, tombs, church buildings, cemeteries, forts, palaces, step-wells, and historical mounds and websites, kind a part of these monuments. Additional, state governments and union territories have additionally declared monuments/websites as being of state significance beneath their respective Acts.
Within the occasion of any harm or encroachment to a monument, ASI officers are authorised to file police complaints, subject show-cause notices for the elimination of encroachments, and coordinate with the native administration for needed motion. Sadly, the officers have failed of their responsibility to protect, shield, and preserve these monuments. A lot in order that some monuments have gone lacking from the ASI’s record.
In a submission made to Parliament by the Ministry of Tradition, it was reported that fifty of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments have been ‘lacking’. This was revealed within the submissions made by the ministry on December 8, 2022, to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Tradition as a part of a report titled ‘Points Regarding Untraceable Monuments and Safety of Monuments in India’. These included 11 in Uttar Pradesh, two every in Delhi and Haryana, and a few in states like Assam, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Among the many previous websites that had vanished in accordance with the ASI have been the Kos Minar, a medieval milestone in Haryana state; the Weapons of Emperor Sher Shah in Tinsukia city; the Telia Nala Buddhist web site in Varanasi; and the Barakhamba Monument, a 14th-century tomb constructing in Delhi. Apparently, all these monuments had been earlier de-notified by the ASI.
Safeguarding Heritage
The ASI and the Ministry of Tradition have erred by de-notifying a few of these buildings, which means they’re not categorized as monuments of nationwide significance. This has positioned them within the harmful attain of unscrupulous land builders and building mafias on the lookout for areas to construct, promote, and revenue.
There are usually not sufficient safety guards to supervise these monuments. The Parliamentary Committee (PC) was knowledgeable that safety guards have been posted at solely 248 of the three,693 monuments. “The committee notes with dismay that out of the whole requirement of seven,000 personnel for the safety of monuments, the federal government might present solely 2,578 safety personnel at 248 places as a consequence of budgetary constraints,” the PC report stated.
Within the just-concluded winter session, the federal government knowledgeable Parliament {that a} survey undertaken by the ASI by its numerous subject workplaces revealed that 18 protected monuments and websites have been “not in good state of preservation”.
The federal government wants to handle the particular challenges confronted by the ASI within the repairs of monuments.
The ASI must be supplied with ample funds, personnel, and assets to keep up these heritage monuments. The area people round historic websites should even be concerned of their repairs and upkeep. A way of satisfaction and consciousness ought to be instilled in the local people.
In a rustic the place assembly the essential wants of residents has turn into the first focus of successive central governments, many monuments and websites have perished as a consequence of actions like urbanisation, the development of dams and reservoirs, and even encroachments. Quite a few instances concerning unauthorised constructions carried out in prohibited and controlled areas in numerous states and UTs have additionally been highlighted.
Sadly, residents usually search methods to bypass the procedures for fast options, damaging the websites and buildings. On November 27, an IIT researcher was killed in a pit collapse on the Harappan historic web site of Lothal, Gujarat. The joint workforce of IIT Delhi and IIT Gandhinagar was finishing up a soil pattern survey and hadn’t bothered to tell or search permission from the ASI. The digging was carried out inside the 100-metre prohibited restrict of an ASI-protected web site. The researchers even had an excavator engaged on a close-by street challenge to dig a 12-foot-deep trench, simply 50 metres from the primary gate of the Lothal web site, which falls inside the prohibited space.
Every monument and even the stays narrate a narrative of India’s wonderful previous, and so they should be preserved as a legacy for future generations.
(The writer is Contributing Editor, NDTV)
Disclaimer: These are the private opinions of the writer