Return to glory

Now,as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) join hands to restore and conserve the 15th Century tombs at the Lodhi Gardens,they are using conventional techniques and material.

In a tripartite agreement between the ASI,National Cultural Fund (NCF) and Steel Authority of India (SAIL),three Lodhi period tombs — Tomb of Muhammad Shah,Bara Gumbad and Shish Gumbad — have been taken up for the first phase of conservation,at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore.

The Lodhi Gardens has nine heritage structures,of which five are ASI protected monuments. Restoration for two other structures — Tomb of Sikander Lodi and Athpullah Bridge — is also being planned.

“The conservation work under the first phase will be complete by April next year and as soon as funds for the other two monuments come in we will start work on them too,” said AGK Menon,convenor,Delhi chapter,INTACH.

INTACH officials claim the tombs in Lodhi Gardens are in extremely bad shape due to vandalism and improper repair work done on them earlier. While the Tomb of Muhammad Shah,the earliest monument in the Lodhi Gardens built in 1443-44 AD,was found in a structurally stable condition,its dome had missing plaster layers causing water seepage.

“Unlike in England and Europe where conservation is in practice since long and the deterioration is mainly due to natural causes,in India,even the protected monuments are deteriorating due to vandalism and improper repair work. So it becomes important that the integrity is also restored along with the basic repairs of checking water penetration and plaster deterioration,” an INTACH official said. “The foremost task of any conservation work is to take steps to decelerate deterioration processes such as ensuring zero water penetration from roof and damp rise from the ground.”

“As part of conservation to ensure the integrity of monuments the missing decorative elements are replaced based on the existing evidence,only if the evidence exists,” the official said. In case there is no evidence to help reconstruction,the portion is left untouched.

The other four smaller monuments in Lodhi Gardens,that do not fall under ASI protection,will also be spruced up as part of 92 monuments that INTACH was assigned by the Department of Archaeology to survey and conserve before the Commonwealth Games.

Heritage walks
As part of the World Heritage Week,which begins on Tuesday,INTACH in association with Fox History and Entertainment will conduct heritage walks in 25 cities across the country. The walks,part of the ‘My City My History’ programme,will focus on school children. The first walk will be organised tomorrow at the Mehrauli Settlement Village showcasing important heritage structures like Adham Khan’s tomb,Zafar Mahal,Hauz-i-Shamsi.

Conserve,don’t reconstruct: Britain,Italy
The British High Commission and the Embassy of Italy had complained against the techniques of restoration being used for the monuments in the Capital,sources in the Ministry of Culture told Newsline. They have offered an alternate solution of conserving ruins in their entirety and not reconstructing them. To bridge the difference of opinion,sources said the British High Commissioner’s wife Lady Cagg plans to visit the restoration sites in Lodhi Gardens with INTACH officials,who will explain to her the procedure used by them.