Conservation strategies for the historic town of bishnupur, West Bengal/

Abstract

The town Bishnupur is well known for the terracotta temples of Bengal. ThenameBishnupur or Vishnupur is inspired from the name of Lord Vishnu. Bishnupur wasruledunder the Gupta period by local Hindu kings who paid tribute to Samudra Gupta. Thelandis also called Mallabhum after the Malla rulers of this place. The Mallarulerswere Vaishnavites and built the famous terracotta temples during the 17thand18thcenturies at this place. Among them are Jor Bangla, Radha Madhav, Radheshyam, andShyam Rai. The terracotta craft flourished in Bengal in the 16th century, whentheVaisnava movement, led by Sri Chaitanya, influenced Bengali culture. The MallakingsofBishnupur, Bankura however, took the effort to promote both the Vaisnava sect andanewtype of terracotta art that depicted the Krishna religion on the magnificent templestheybuilt. Various kings from the dynasty have constructed a number of VishnutemplesinBishnupur. Although the present-day Bishnupur is a small place yet not a planned town, fromthestudy it can be assumed that Bishnupur was a planned capital, with extremelyefficientdefensive system with various layers of fortification on a major trading route, andtheMallas, being fishermen by caste, realised the importance of water. They usethewaterefficiently to create the defence mechanism as well as rainwater harvesting systemthatthey instituted in such a dry area, using indigenous techniques, was so effectiveandisvery evident even today. The whole area includes around hundreds of temples out of which fewareterracottatemples and the majority of the temples are built in laterite. Apart fromthe temples, theother physical cultural resources of the area consists of the remaining of thefortificationbuilt by the Malla rulers, 2 entrance gate, 2 canons, ruins of Lalbai palace, onewater tankfor storage locally known as goomghar, 7 man made bandh (lake) for water storage, 4dilapidated watch towers locally known as Hawa Mahal inside the fortification , theRajbari ruins, one old ghat, few ditches, oldest music school & college of Hindustani classical music, an old correctional home, old 18 th and 19TH Century residences andfewoldvernacular houses of the famous musicians of Bishnupur gharana, 2 British airfieldsinsidethe jungle few kms away from the municipality area and many more ruins scatteredhereand there. Out of these, 18 monuments are protected by ASI and State Government. Apart fromtheprotected ones, majority of the built heritage are either in a very bad conditionorconserved inappropriately. There are also many temples and old houses whicharenowtotally demolished and replaced with new constructions by using modern buildingmaterials.There is also a major lack of awareness among the local people about the historical significance as well as the richness of the heritage still present in the town andasaresultmost of the physical cultural resources are being neglected over the years.It also has an illustrious history that is reflected in its rich tradition of handicrafts andmusic.The town is well-known for its Baluchuri Sari, Conch shell crafts, Dashabotar Tashandlantern making and unfortunately they are facing major occupational shift duetolessappreciation and financial support. The thesis aims to prepare conservation strategies for the historic town of Bishnupur. Thisintends to understand and identify the region as an ancient kingdomcapital from15thorprobably 10th CE by identifying, documenting with visual observations andinterviews,listing the heritage components like the PCR’s (i.e., Physical Cultural Resources) andtopropose conservation strategies to retain the historic development of the ancient town.This also intends to map the various artisans and craftsmen community who arestill livingand practising their artform in the town.