Heritage is a singular word with a kaleidoscopic image. It is a word that brings images of ancient monuments, places, life, and culture to a person’s mind. According to UNESCO, heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations.UNESCO and various other Heritage NGOs have dramatically raised the profile of Global Heritage and are continuously seeking to redefine Heritage beyond its previous Eurocentered and essentially Western viewpoints. Heritage is vast, a lot of it still left unexplored, yet to be discovered, and redefining Heritage is an important aspect in moving forward. Heritage Conservation is crucial and it should be understood that it’s not just about the past but the present too and the relevance it may hold in the future.>>
Understanding Heritage
Heritage is the legacy of a people, place, or country. Because of the notion and definition made by the people for Heritage, it is often limited to ancient buildings, ornate temples, or colonial buildings. On the contrary, Heritage is a combination of tangible and intangible aspects. It is not just a physical remnant but a living narrative consisting of memories, identities, ideologies, and rituals.
In India, heritage exists not only in the forts, step-wells or temples but in the vernacular homes, local handicrafts, and languages or traditions passed down across generations. Yet, Heritage in India has long been viewed through a colonial lens, largely limited to what the colonial state once deemed as valuable.
Underlooked Legacies
As previously mentioned, the notion and the definition that has been made for Heritage plays a significant role in what is considered as Heritage. There are a lot of sites in India that are overshadowed by famous architectural and cultural marvels like the Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, Gateway of India, and more. Modern Heritage and less documented regional structures remain underappreciated or maybe forgotten.
While Heritage Conservation is emerging as a trend and getting active recognition, its definition needs to be redefined in contemporary India.
Let’s shed some light on a few examples that stand out of time:
National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA)
A gem in Mumbai, designed by one of the greatest American Modernist Architect Philip Johnson, aimed to promote and preserve India’s Heritage consisting of music, dance, film, literature, and photography. It is described as, “a meeting of the minds of the East and West”, its architecture and mission remain vastly unappreciated.
Gandhi of Architecture – Laurie Baker
Those in the field of Architecture are well aware of the name, specializing in low-cost housing and eco-friendly sustainable design. His philosophies were way ahead of their time, he made architecture seem to be one with the place, merging into the soil, melding with the culture, and belonging to the people. The beautiful wonders are yet to receive the national recognition that they deserve.
Padma Shri Award Holder – Joseph Allen Stein
Recognized by having the only road in Delhi named after an Architect, a Padma Shri Award holder for his significant contributions to Architecture and design in India. His designs were modern, inspired by India’s past, seamlessly blending into the contemporary world. Remains underrepresented or unknown, like the Habitat Centre, Indian Institute of Manage at Kozhikode and Express Towers which was the first high-rise building in India.
Moving on this neglect and heritage conservation is still limited and extends to pre-modern and vernacular sites as well. The Ajanta and Ellora caves are widely known and infamous for their rock carvings, they are significantly large in size while the Unakoti rock carvings in Tripura, despite their stunning rock carvings suffer from abandonment and deterioration. These sites may not be as grand as the others but equally valuable and are living narratives of the past.
Rethinking Heritage Conservation
Heritage may seem to be constant, not changing but the notion of Heritage shouldn’t. Heritage is contextual, acting like roots, tending to spread over time, furthermore requiring sufficient nurturing and care, meaning it needs to be well preserved and conserved. In simpler words, Heritage is dynamic and evolving, it grows, adapts, and transforms with people, cultures, and time. Therefore, it raises the need to rethink Heritage conservation in the context of contemporary India.
Moreover, modern heritage needs to be recognized more formally. India’s heritage laws at present like the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (1958), rarely accommodate structures built after 100 years, leaving out whole unrecognized structures and sites of architectural marvels. Heritage conservation needs to be more inclusive and participatory, more parameters need to be set to characterize whether it be a place, monument, building, artifact, or culture under Heritage and in need of conservation. The context and current state of its existence concerning contemporary India and the relevance it may hold in the future need to be understood and studied.
Communities, people must be active and more participatory when it comes to Heritage conservation. It would lead to a more sustainable and democratic mode of conservation, rooted in complexity rather than compliance alone.
India is a rapidly growing country, where urbanization poses a threat to the diverse cultural landscapes. Heritage conservation offers the visitors or even the people of that place a lens to see into the past and helps in maintaining the cultural roots of the society while allowing space for growth and evolution in the contemporary world. Ultimately heritage is not just about old buildings or cultural places—it’s about the people, their memories, and what those things mean to them. It gives a society its identity, shows where it has come from, and tells the story of how it has grown over time.
References List:
- UNESCO (2023). World Heritage. (online) Unesco.org. Available at: https://www.unesco.org/en/world-heritage. [Accessed 20 Apr. 2025].
- UNESCO (2024). UNESCO – Tangible and Intangible Heritage.(online)ich.unesco.org. Available at: https://ich.unesco.org/en/tangible-and-intangible-heritage-00097.[Accessed 20 Apr. 2025].
- UNESCO (2018). What is intangible cultural heritage?(online) UNESCO. Available at: https://ich.unesco.org/en/what-is-intangible-heritage-00003.[Accessed 20 Apr. 2025].
- Wikipedia Contributors (2019). Cultural heritage. (online) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_heritage.[Accessed 20 Apr. 2025].
- NCPA. (n.d.). Home. (online) Available at: https://www.ncpamumbai.com/.[Accessed 20 Apr. 2025].
- Wikipedia Contributors (2025). Joseph Allen Stein. Wikipedia.[Accessed 20 Apr. 2025].
- Steve Berry. The Importance of Preserving Heritage, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
- Gupta, Narayani. Cultural Conservation in India: A Perspective, Seminar Magazine, Issue 530.
