Heritage sites in any country or region speak about the history of that place. All civilized nations preserve their heritage as it reminds them of the pride and glory that their nation enjoyed. Jammu and Kashmir came into being as a defined state in 1846 through the efforts of Maharaj Gulab Singh but prior to that, the ancient Kingdom of Kashmir can claim thousands of years of history down to the times when its independence was lost with the occupation of the Mughals in 1586 A.D. During those millennia numerous sites were developed and these became historically significant for various reasons. Some of them rather many of them were destroyed by the vagaries of weather and of human callousness. But notwithstanding that many still are in one or the other shape visible to us.
During one hundred years of Dogra rule, while the centre of the J&K kingdom was essentially Jammu, that ruling house raised many structures that attained historical significance. Most of these heritage sites are in some shape still and can be visited by interested persons. Likewise, in Ladakh region also many monuments have been preserved though not in their pristine beauty yet they are still cultural symbols of the people of that region.
Today J&K is a composite State comprising three regions. As such, we have jointly inherited very rich heritage from our past which we need to preserve and protect for our generations to come. The idea of preserving these heritage sites is to instill in our younger generations some significant aspects of our past history which endears us to our birth place. In this connection the plan of the Minister of Housing, Horticulture and Culture, Raman Bhalla is a visionary plan that will attract the attention of all those who love the history of the land. The Minister disclosed that his department had identified no fewer than 28 heritage sites in all the three regions of the State which the Government would like to bring under the scheme of renovation and restoration. The heritage sites mentioned by him in the course of a meeting of senior officers drawn from various departments are of great historical fame and significance. The grandiose plan could be an outstanding contribution to the cultural history of the State. The encouraging thing is that according to the Minister, the identification of the heritage sites has been made by the Archaeological Survey of India. We know that the ASI has already taken in hand some of the sites for renovation and restoration as part of its activities. But now a comprehensive plan for preservation of heritage sites in the State is being contemplated. As per the proposal, the State will also be approaching the Centre for financial assistance to launch the massive project of renovation and restoration. It is not a task that can be fulfilled in a year or two. It is rather a continuous process and there cannot be any end to it. Apart from financial assistance for this long term project, there will be the need of services of experts in the field, engineers, skilled labour, artists, painters, geologists, site planners and landscape architects. We hope that all these details will be thoroughly discussed and the blue print will be prepared for those who will be entrusted with the task. It has to be noted that these monuments are of the time when cement and other materials used for construction in modern structures was not known. As such most of these were wrought in chuna and surkhi as can be seen even now. Naturally, restoration of the monuments will be done in the same material of which these were made. It is said that the nuances of engineering of those times are no more extant. For examples the colour of tiles used during the Mughal times has not been retrieved so far. However these niceties should not come in the way of restoration of the monuments to their pristine purity.
Obviously, the Government should constitute a committee of experts, engineers, geologists and historians to consider all aspects of restoration of these 28 heritage sites. All dimensions of the work to be done should be thoroughly discussed. It is very unfortunate that greedy people have tried to grab some land belonging to these sites. Moreover, slums and shanties have also come up in close proximity of some of the sites. These ugly things have to be removed and the land grabbed has to be vacated. This task should begin right now and it has not to wait for the approval of any outside agency. Once the task of vacating illegal occupation and removing the slums is underway, people will begin to understand that the Government is serious in the plan of restoring heritage sites.
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