Hampi heritage interpretation and convention center is a project on which I arrived from a sense of urgency. A sense of urgency to project and promote the intangible heritage of Hampi and to promote Hampi and its entire complex as a tourist destination and not just the one’s under UNSECO.
Project Name: Hampi Heritage interpretation and convention center
By: Kunal Jain
The current situation of Hampi is such that only the structures which are under UNESCO are been promoted at massive scale and because of this all the other historical chapters such as Kishkinda, Pampa devi and many more are been ignored and unexplored thus they still remain in ruined state as they were centuries ago.
Hampi lies on the banks of Tungabhadra in the state of Karnataka. It is known as the “city of victory” and was the capital of Dravidian empire before the Deccan war of 15th century, ending the Vijayanagara Empire. Later in the 18th century it was rediscovered by Captain Colin Mackenzie and later after formation of ASI and HWHAMA (the local governing body).
To promote local art and unexplored heritage it was first important that people know about this and to make it interesting it had to be interactive. So the module of interpretation center, workshops and performing centers was selected.
The research first started with documenting and collecting information about the local surviving crafts such as stone cutting and carving, basket weaving and street theatre. Later through the design process of including this art and crafts in my design by means of workshops, using it to build the structures on site and to provide a platform for local performing arts was concluded.
For the visitor to have the wholesome experience of the history the concept of depicting the timeline of Hampi on the site was selected. It would be preceded by introducing the intangible heritage to the visitors, so that they can get a gist of what they are about to experience.
