On the eve of heritage week celebrations

In terms of archaeological heritage this land is not far behind any of the lands of this country. It has got a rich archaeological heritage in terms of its ancient glorious monuments, archaeological sites and artefacts, ancient coins, and epigraphs. But, so far as the maintenance, upkeep and conservation of this heritage is concerned it is not maintained on the requisite modern scientific lines. In this context, the small institutions looking after this heritage are not to be blamed for their poor upkeep, as these institutions lack basic infrastructure, professional manpower and modern conservation methodology. Since decades together these institutions stood unorganised and have been relying upon the traditional methods of conservation and maintenance.

Indeed these institutions could have performed still a bit good if these are reorganised with efficient and professional manpower and modern maintenance and conservation technologies. As such I would never hold these institutions wholly responsible for their poor performance in up keeping of this heritage. To be honest it is the responsibility of the system, the entire establishment including the civil society which has been watching the heritage mess since for decades. The system never explored the heritage related problems faced by the concerned institutions and adopted any proper heritage policy to safeguard the scattered heritage of this land and its people. No doubt the heritage conservation and preservation act was passed very earlier in 2010 but I do not think if it was anytime implemented by any of the government.

Technically speaking the small institutions looking after the heritage suffer at professional and technical levels; these institutions are very poor in terms of modern technologies and professional manpower. At institutional level, these organizations needs to be re-organized and strengthened with the professional manpower consisting of learned archaeologists, numismatists, art historians, conservationists besides it also requires being equipped well with modern archaeology technology. The annual refresher courses and workshops on archaeology, numismatics, palaeography and conservation, for the working staff shall be conducted at Jammu and Srinagar to enable the working staff to learn the modern up-to-date methods of archaeology and museum conservation. For this purpose the services of experienced and trained experts shall be hired or loaned. A team of experts shall be constituted who could take stock of working of various institutions entrusted with the task of maintenance of this heritage. The experts should visit the monuments, archaeological sites, museums and repositories and take on spot inspection of these sites. They should take on spot stock of the maintenance, conservation status of the archaeological sites and submit their reports to the establishment.

The story of ancient archaeological heritage is here, very long and interesting. Indeed there was a time when the archaeological wealth of Jammu and Kashmir was confined to the literary records, centred around Sanskrit, Persian and its ancient literature and foreign travel accounts. Much was spoken of the religious edifices of high grandeur and sanctity, but in absence of any archaeological findings, these sources lacked the chronological order. The history and civilization of ancient Jammu and Kashmir was therefore over emphasized presenting a series of perplexing contrasts and problems. But with the advent of archaeological, numismatic and epigraphic researches, the history and culture of ancient Kashmir has been now explored to the large extent and the major chronological links and gapes has also been filled.

The pioneering work in re-discovering the past of Kashmir was undertaken by European missionaries. They undertook systematic geological and archaeological expeditions from the beginning of 19th Century and collected a lot of valuable information on the environmental, geological features, ancient monuments and other archaeological artefacts.

The earliest archaeological explorations and excavations made visible the ruins and remains of wonderful buildings all over the Kashmir valley, which the archaeologists thought were remarkable in terms of its solidity, simplicity and durability, as well as for what Alexander Cunningham, the famous European archaeologist of the 19th century distinguished these by the graceful elegance of their outlines and the massive boldness of their parts, he in his essay on Arian order of architecture as exhibited in temples of Kashmir has given a detailed note on ancient architecture of Kashmir, in his this monumental essay he at one place writes: ‘The architectural remains of Kashmir are perhaps the most remarkable of the existing monuments of India, as they exhibit undoubted traces of the influence of Grecian art.’

“The characteristic features of the Kashmerian architecture are its lofty pyramidal roofs, its trefoil doorways, covered by pyramidal pediments, and the great width of its intercolumniations. That it had been influenced by Greek and Roman styles is evidenced by the close resemblance with the Kashmerian columned bears to the classical peristyle of Greece. At the same time the echinos, which is the leading feature of the Kashmerian capital, is also the chief member of the Doric capital. It seems that the Kashmeri architects borrowed the style from the Indo- Greeks during the time of their control of the Kabul valley and western Punjab”

In the above quoted lines of Alexander Cunningham, it is very much clear that he has got impressed by the architectural heritage of Kashmir and he has made a comparison of these remains with those of the west. Undoubtedly Alexander Cunningham during his stay in Kashmir explored the built heritage of this land and in his descriptive and detailed notes, he makes mention of wonderful massive stone built monuments of the entire Jhelum valley, which included the stone formed monuments at Bunyar, Rampur, Pattan, Parashpura, Takhta-i-Suliman, Pandrathan, Avantipura and Martand. These ruins have been identified as those of ancient monasteries and temples. He has also made mention of the ruined Kanishare of Parahaspura about which he speaks to had been a large and important centre of this land.

This is about the ancient stone architectural heritage of this land. Similarly the wooden and terracotta architectural and archaeological sites of this land also symbolise the grace of distinctive art and architectural styles. The numismatic hoards and artefact retrieved from the archaeological sites stand as an unexplored heritage treasure.

Of its historic and archaeological significances, this heritage needs to be taken due care of and we must introduce its significance and importance to our new generations. This goal can be achieved only if a sustained heritage preservation and promotion policy .

The write is a senior archaeologist and an author.