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Heritage Havlies: Community Heartbeat for Conservation
5 Jan
Summary
- Emotional community connection is vital for heritage conservation success.
- Bengal's mud-and-clay structures pose restoration challenges.
- Festivals in Murshidabad aim to instill pride and ownership.
Sandip Nowlakha, vice-president of the Murshidabad Heritage Development Society (MHDS), emphasizes that a deep emotional connection between local communities and built heritage is crucial for its survival. Without this sense of pride and responsibility, even well-funded restoration efforts may falter.
Nowlakha highlighted the material differences in heritage structures between Bengal and Rajasthan. While Rajasthan boasts stone architecture, many historic buildings in Bengal, particularly in Murshidabad, were constructed using mud and clay, making their restoration more complex and challenging.
To combat this, MHDS employs a multi-pronged strategy in Murshidabad, which has 97 identified heritage sites. Annual festivals are instrumental in this approach, serving not just as cultural showcases but as vital tools to instill pride, responsibility, and a sense of ownership among local residents, thereby securing the legacy of the past.
