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New Delhi: Three
hundred photographs and texts of more than 60 forts of medieval
and colonial India have been compiled by photographer Joginder
Singh and noted conservationist Amita Baig, who says there is "a
very real risk" that in another generation, these heritage
structures will disappear.
The new heritage compendium, "Forts and Palaces of India",
showcases the country's 5,000 years of archaeological heritage.
"I started work on the book 25 years ago. It is a culmination of
my life's efforts to preserve and promote Indian heritage," Baig
told IANS.
Published by Om Books International, the pictorial anthology was
launched by the Nawab of Pataudi, Mansur Ali Khan, and his wife
Sharmila in the capital late Friday.
Baig, who for the last 25 years hasd been committed to the
preservation of the country's cultural heritage, has promoted new
methods for the protection of historical sites. She has been at
the forefront of the conservation movement in India, facilitating
conservation with stakeholders' partnership.
She was the director-general of the architectural heritage
division at the Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural
Heritage (INTACH) before becoming an independent consultant. Baig
is currently consultant to the World Monuments Fund for its India
programme.
"India has thousands of forts. In Maharashtra alone, there are
1,300 forts. I have just touched the tip of an iceberg. Each fort
needs its own book."
When asked about her favourite fort, Baig said the "Padmanabhapuram
Palace Fort - a mud and wood fort - in Kerala is the one I like
most".
"I feel it's a sad reflection of our perceptions of conservation
and management that concern about the quality of monuments
supersedes that of the citizen. There is today a very real risk
that in another generation these beautiful forts and palaces which
have kept our heritage and culture intact might not be there."
"Hence there is more of a reason why it is now that we must
understand the need to conserve these. My book depicts the
richness of such monuments in India and even presents how they
came into being," Baig said.
Explaining the dynamics of her conservation work, Baig said her
work tried to bridge the chasm between an inherited colonial
system of protection and a more inclusive one - vis-a-vis forts.
"The fundamental difference lies in the fact that Indian forts
were built to protect the people while the colonial forts were
built to fortify themselves from the people". As a result,
partnership and inclusion as concepts in preservation of forts
were missing in the country.
"For example today, the Jaisalmer Fort is heavily encroached with
hotels transplanting homes. And exploitation of heritage is
rampant. After 20 years of struggling to build a consensus for
solutions to save the Jaisalmer Fort, a small group of youngsters
called the Desert Boys stepped in and said they would fight to
protect the 'kila'...for me the Desert Boys are the success
story," she said.
The book with its opulent photographs - a labour of love and
extreme hardship by photographer Joginder Singh who travelled
around the country for two years - divides the forts into 10
categories.
The heads include Rajput Forts, Bundelkhand Fort, Sultanate Fort,
Southern Kingdoms, Mughal Forts, Maratha Forts, Sikh Forts, Hill
Forts, Eastern India and Colonial Settlers.
Some strategic forts covered in the book are Jodhpur (Mehrangarh)
Fort, Jaisalmer Fort, Bikaner, Bundi, Jaipur, Deeg, Tughlaqabad,
Feroze Shah Kotla, Bidar, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Daulatabd, Golconda,
Gaur and Hazarduari.
Ajay Mago, publisher of OM Books, said he started work on the book
three-and-a-half years ago as an exercise to promote heritage
tourism in the country.
"Initially, we had thought of sourcing some photographs from the
archives and commissioning a few. But the quality of two did not
match. Hence, we commissioned Joginder Singh to shoot all the
photographs to retain uniformity in quality. We have covered
nearly 70 percent of the forts," Mago told IANS.
He said a sequel would follow soon.
Architect-photographer Joginder Singh said, "I don't know if I
have grown as an architect or a photographer in this project - the
forts and palaces captured in the book have a very high degree of
craft that respond to location and were built with a lot of
attention to detail."
The book is priced at Rs.3,000.
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