Conservation strategies for the walled city of pauni, Maharashtra

Abstract

In India, even though we have a very old, and remarkably continuous civilization, the practice of conservation per se was introduced with the consolidation of the Archaeological Survey of India by Lord Curzon in 1902. Our values and practices have derived largely from western attitudes and experiences, and in conservation, as in other fields, we are rushing to ‘catch up’ with concepts prevalent in the West. It is becoming clearer that conservation in India, instead of being a marginal technical activity at odds with the real world as in the West, could, in fact, be central to the development of material reality and the key to the definition of our identity. The central idea to take up such a thesis was to understand how heritage resources could trigger a change in a historic town’s development. Pauni is a 9 sq. kilometre town in the Bhandara district of Maharashtra. The town stands today as an evidence of the pre-historic and early Mauryan times. The town of Pauni has been a witness to various layers in history and is one of the ancient sites of Principal Buddhist Stupas. Apart from the heritage of Archaeological significance, the town also boasts of close to 100 temples which are significant on the local, community and regional level. So, the town is important and could be brought, both on regional and global level through investing in research and tourism sector. The town lies on the banks of river Wainganga, a perennial river that is considered to be very sacred in Vidarbha traditions. Life in Pauni has a considerable dependency on the natural feature. Apart from the resources of archaeological and natural significance, the place also boasts of a weaving industry that has earned a GI tag for the region. The town in today’s context is under deep dilemma since it lies under economic stagnation and an air of unstirred conditions. The definition and recognition of cultural heritage has to be flexible and can be open ended rather than definite. It helps in fostering shared values within the community and promotes a sense of belonging and bonding between them and helps in establishing a cultural variety. The loss of authenticity, and the aim of urban conservation, accordingly, is ‘to control the rate of change’. Significantly, the historic town and the values it represents are not considered as agents of change.