A lot has been said about the need to conserve the 5,000-odd monuments protected by the state and central governments. A lot is being done by the Archaeological Survey of India, along with agencies such as the World Monuments Fund, UNESCO, Aga Khan Foundation and several NGOs, to create awareness and protect the fast-disappearing heritage.
Whatever be the reason for their present state of neglect, these monuments are essential to our national identity. In this regard, the recent restoration of Humayun’s Tomb, Qutab Minar, the Rathas of Mahabalipuram, the Synagogue in Cochin, the buildings in Kala Ghoda in Mumbai, etc has not gone unnoticed. These projects may have attracted contradictory opinions from conservationists and archaeologists, but what does the common man care about such controversies? The matter of whose garden surrounds Humayun’s Tomb — the original or the one restored by Lord Curzon — is often not the reason a visitor enjoys the space. It is the symmetrical green lawns of the ‘char-bagh’, with its red sandstone water channels, the squirrels that hide behind the hedges, the sprawling banyans and swarms of parrots that make Humayun’s Tomb a destination visitors come back to again and again.
More, opinion by Suparna Bhalla / March 06, 2010: business-standard.com.
Ismailimail 