The principles behind the restoration of the gardens and area around Humayun’s tomb in Delhi
The restoration of the gardens of Humayun’s tomb — through the joint efforts of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the ASI, under the aegis of the National Culture Fund — initiated a major shift in the working principles of conservation. Completed in 2003, it was the first private-public partnership project of a World Heritage Site in India.
It is undeniable that the template for a modern India was established by the colonial regime. The British built up the infrastructure for modernization by ushering in industrial and scientific revolutions. Based on these developments, knowledge systems became increasingly sophisticated in independent India. But beyond sustained technological advancement, to what extent have the legacies of colonial modernity lived on? Can it be claimed that a consciousness of modernity also develops alongside the progress in science and technology?
Technical expertise in historical conservation has been updated over the years, but how much of conservation has actually entered everyday behaviour and attitudes? The preservation of culture cannot take place independent of the public sphere. “There is a fundamental disconnect between the people and the monuments,” as Shobita Punja, art historian and conservationist, puts it.
Complete at the Telegraph Calcutta India
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