96 IA&B - MAY 2009
COMMUNITY AS CATALYST Parul Zaveri and Nimish Patel of Abhikram lay down the genesis of their initiative and involvement in Amber, Jaipur – a heritage movement spanning two decades.
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mber, the cradle of Jaipur, remained the capital of the Kachhawah Rajputs for over 600 years, during which it developed as well as flourished in many directions, having as many as 100 different types of arts and crafts. It abounded in more than 200 temples and many beautiful Havelis. Its system of water harvesting and water conservation is a lesson from history, which even today surprises the professionals and the administrators. For many decades in recent past, the city has stood abandoned, neglected or abused. Its ruins are being used as a source of building materials for making new buildings, which shows neither any respect for the past, nor any responsibility towards its future. It still remains, however, one of the oldest surviving examples of our traditional attitudes to sustainability, in the planning and in the use of our settlements, in a holistic manner. IT DEMONSTRATES EVEN TODAY THAT: • Despite its relatively small scale in area and population, it has every element of a complete settlement • Adverse conditions, such as the difficult landforms with undulating contours, and scanty rainfall of the area, can be converted to derive advantages for itself that other settlements do not offer; • It is possible to judiciously utilise and intelligently manage the scarce resources, such as the water, by harvesting the rainwater from the surrounding areas and collecting it for use in the form of man-made lakes; • The approach and attitude of sustainable development continues to be relevant even after eight centuries of existence. THE INITIATIVES AND THE CONSEQUENCES OVER A 20 YEAR PERIOD: In 1988, we became involved in the conservation of Amber town, with the initiation of J. P. (John) Singh, Secretary, INTACH Jaipur Chapter. This was the beginning of an extremely educative, enlightening, eye opening and rewarding journey that had the fortune to see its culmination in the Heritage Conservation Movement, the central intent of the journey, which is experienced in Jaipur and Amber today.
1989-98 took us through the holistic understanding and detailed studies of the context, as well as conservation proposals, with the help of INTACH, students of architecture from India & Australia. These enthused a few well meaning Government officers from the Jaipur Municipal Corporation, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation and the Rajasthan Housing Board, to undertake isolated efforts towards the cause. With each presentation of our studies and proposals, we could see the increasing awareness levels about the heritage as well as the need for its conservation. This cumulative work was recognised by the Indian Institute of Architects with a Conservation Award. Traditional craft persons began to find more opportunities for employment of their skills and knowledge. The major milestone came after the recognition of the conservation of a haveli ruin (now known as the Anokhi Museum), which received the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Conservation 2000 Award in the ‘Excellent’ category. A visionary Government of Rajasthan administrator took an unprecedented step of allocating Rs 50 crores for the heritage conservation of Jaipur and Amber as a part of Rs 500 crores investment in Jaipur, by the Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure Development Project (RUIDP). INTACH Jaipur chapter, under our leadership, and with the help of young and inexperienced, but enthusiastic professionals, undertook the mammoth task of appropriate utilisation of this single largest allocation by any Government since independence, to the cause of heritage conservation. 2001-04 saw this team establish the methodologies, the procedures and the documents, for observing the heritage buildings, recording the observations, identifying the interventions and converting them into proposals as well as tenders, confirming to the constraints of the Government, as well as those of financing institutions. Major pitfalls of non-availability of contractors with heritage conservation experience, were overcome by convincing and training the inexperienced contractors, assisting them with experienced supervision. The heritage conservation work under the RUIDP from 2001-2004 has proved to be the most significant invention in heritage conservation efforts in the recent past anywhere in the country. Large-scale Heritage conservation projects and establishment of the Amber Development & Management Authority followed soon.
Meagre resources, non-existent Government support and a holistic understanding of our cultural heritage led to the inclusion of people within the extended definition of resources. The meaning of heritage was not restricted to buildings only, but included the entire Heritage Fabric of the settlement. The beginnings were humble and basic. The intent was to make people aware of the importance of our cultural heritage, its continued relevance in their present lives, and the need to conserve it.
Parallel to this, the ideas and the projects initiated by the original team of 1989 were pursued in the form of annual Jaipur International Heritage Festival, beginning with 2002, which now hosts more than 100 events spread over 40 venues, and attracts close to a lakh people from Jaipur, various parts of India and abroad. Most of the initiatives have expanded beyond our expectations, and continue to gather momentum. The lessons for us have been to continue to initiate actions, which are so inherently appropriate for the purpose, the cause and the context that they snowball by themselves.The tipping point seems to have arrived in 20 years.
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