Rebuilding the state’s crumbling heritage

Janyala Srinivas

THE intricately carved 15th century chatterdi, or the columns and pillars around which Salman Khan romanced Aishwarya Rai for a song in the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, is a heap of rubble today. Not only were the 500-year-old exquisite carvings and rare architecture destroyed, Bhuj and Gujarat lost one of the most significant landmarks of Kutch’s history in the January 26 temblor.

Gujarat’s killer earthquake not only flattened lakhs of houses in Kutch and rest of the state, but also numerous monuments of historical and archeological importance. It’s ancient history , dating back to the time the Cholas built the Shiv temple in Khera in 10th century to Ahmed Shah founding his capital on the banks of Sabarmati in Ahmedabad in 14th century. There are nearly 600 protected monuments including temples, mosques, stepwells, forts, rock edicts and other structures. But nobody seems interested in the monuments any more, though there’s a crying need to repair and conserve them.

Under the state archeological department, more than 130 monuments out of 329 have been damaged. But the state government is still chalking out plans to restore them. Funds have not yet been released to start repairs anywhere. On the other hand, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) received a special earthquake fund of Rs 50 lakh and has started work on monuments requiring immediate repairs.

There are 213 national monuments in Gujarat protected by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), 329 monuments are protected by the State Archaeology department. Out of these, 50 national monuments have been badly damaged while 134 monuments protected by the state have been affected.

These include the 10th century temples in Jamnagar and Kutch, 14th century mosques and shaking minarets in Ahmedabad and temples of Shiva in Kutch and Surendranagar. Besides, a number of darbargadhs or small forts, citadels and other structures have suffered damages.

R Gehlot, regional ASI director, Vadodara says, ‘‘it is a very challenging task to restore these monuments to their original shape. Many of them are badly damaged.’’

In Ahmedabad city alone, 12 national monuments including the historic shaking minarets, Bhadra fort, Bibi Masjid, Shah Alam Roja and Ahmed Shah mosque have been damaged.

In Surendranagar, the dome of ancient temple of Shiva in Than taluka has collapsed. The 4th century rock edicts in Maliya taluka of Rajkot district have developed cracks and the famous 10th century Ghumli temple in Jamnagar has been badly damaged.

In Kutch, besides 50 historic monuments including several ancient temples, more than 500 darbargadhs or citadels, palaces and forts of the erstwhile princes were damaged. As also were 12 landmark darbargadhs of Kutch including Roha, Tera, Wandhia, Lakhia, Devpar, Adesar, Nalia and Kothara.

In fact, so many monuments and ancient structures in Bhuj and Kutch have been damaged in the quake that the district administration has submitted a separate plan concerning rebuilding only monuments. Bhuj Municipality president Kiritbhai Sompura says he has submitted details of damaged monuments and historical buildings in Bhuj. ‘‘The idea is that as part of the Bhuj rebuilding process these monuments are also reconstructed. Bhuj is known by the five entrance gates, the chatterdi and numerous other monuments and if they are not in shape, Bhuj won’t be what it used to be,’’ he said.

Interestingly, none of the stepwells and underground structures suffered any damage. According to the ASI as well as the state archaeology department, Ahmedabad’s famous 14th Adalaj stepwell and the Harappan site in Kutch—Dholavira stayed as they were.

It’s an uphill task for the ASI and state archaeology department that’s being made tougher by the monsoon. ‘‘Restoration work is in progress on many monuments. With the rains, some of the work will be hampered,’’ says Vasudev Nair, head of Ahmedabad sub-division, ASI.

Some of the monuments which were already in a state of decay, and the earthquake simply sealed their fate. ‘‘We had to carefully pull down portions of gates and arches to prevent accidents after the quake. It will take sometime to restore them.’’

According to Y S Rawat, the state archeological department has proposed a Rs 10 crore plan to repair and restore monuments. ‘‘We will be presenting it it to the government for approval shortly. Only when it will be passed and funds allocated to us can we start work.’’

However, Minister for Youth and Cultural Affairs, Mahendra Trivedi admits that procuring funds will be a major problem. ‘‘The government needs all the funds for rehabilitation in Kutch. Where do I get my share for monuments from? The World Bank has promised us some funds besides the Centre. We have to wait till then.’’

Besides the protected monuments, more than 1,000 heritage buildings — 220 in Kutch alone— in Ahmedabad, Limdi, Surendrangar, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Kutch bore the brunt of the quake, according to an Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) survey. Realising the government’s reluctance and the lack of funds, individuals are already pooling in their efforts.

Kutch, known for its historic landmarks and monuments, has received help from unexpected quarters: the former royalty of Saurashtra is pooling in brains and resources to chalk out a masterplan to bring back to shape more than 50 monuments of historic and architectural value in Kutch.

A meeting of the former princes of the erstwhile state of Saurashtra was held at the Raj Kumar College at Rajkot to discuss the damage caused to these monuments. Convened by the former prince of Wankaner Digvijaysinh, a special committee was set up at the meeting to coordinate between government, local municipalities NGOs and other agencies to prepare plans to start repair work.