Incentives for Preserving and ‘Recreating’ Heritage Architecture In New Buildings

It is really sad to see the crazy expansion of concrete, steel and glass in Pune, with completely haphazard architecture standards. It is the same state in all major cities in India. In many cases, there is an attempt to emulate foreign architecture concepts that don’t blend in here very well. This extends to those ridiculous sounding names in English (and French, Italian, Spanish)!

I think it is the responsibility of local civic authorities (as is done in many cities, in the developed world), to enforce some kind of consistency standards in architecture of buildings, landscapes and ideally, even the names!

Just as there are green building requirements and certification standards, civic authorities need to enforce such standards for basic architecture. There have been many discussions on this topic, but doubt if any Indian city has done any progress in this area. I am going to take this requirement one step further. Not only should basic architecture standards be enforced, but heritage architecture should be provided with incentives (I am not asking for enforcement here… but some positive reinforcement).

For example, if a building (or more specifically, a private bungalow) tries to use the old Pune ‘Wada’ type architecture, or the early 20th century ‘Stone’ construction, they should be offered some benefits. We have to encourage new development that respects, preserves and recreates our heritage.

Similar small token incentives should be given to using local and Indian names. Instead of the often horrible (supposedly ‘aspirational’) sounding western names that we see everywhere today, we should encourage the use of local/regional names. Pune was the city of gardens (‘Baugs’) during the Peshwe Era. We had great gardens such as Hirabaug, Sarasbaug, Tulshibaug, and many others. Today, it would be great to see some apartment complexes named as ‘XYZ-Baug’.

In addition to local authorities (like PMC) providing incentives; NGOs and other organizations who are working in the area of heritage preservation (e.g. Janwani in Pune) should also institute prizes and awards for buildings that go out of their way to preserve and replicate the heritage.

Would like to hear the readers thoughts on this topic. Has something like this been done effectively in any Indian city? Note, I agree that ‘incentives’ are a small step, amongst many others to preserve our rich (but poorly maintained and fast dwindling) heritage.

Tatya Tope – Operation Red Lotus

I recently read “Tatya Tope’s Operation Red Lotus” … an interesting well researched book written by Parag Tope. The book presents quite a different view of 1857 War of Independence, than what has been discussed by English and many Indian historians. I would highly recommend the book.

 

Do checkout this nice review about the book from Pragati: 

http://varnam.nationalinterest.in/2011/02/in-pragati-book-review-operation-red-lotus-by-parag-tope/

 

Also checkout the book’s website: www.tatyatope.com

 

‘Bal Gandharva’ – A Nice Tribute To The Legend

 

The ‘Bal Gandharva’ movie opened this week. I was eagerly waiting for its release, and managed to catch this afternoon’s show. I normally don’t blog about cinema; unless I am really impressed (or extremely disappointed) with a specific movie. ‘Bal Gandharva’ clearly falls in the former category…hence this brief blog post.

This movie provides a great snapshot into the life of the legendary Marathi Theater artist and singer Narayan Shripad Rajhans (popularly known as ‘Bal Gandharva’).

[Do read this great speech by Pu La Deshpande (from 1988) describing the greatness of Bal Gandharva. I will quote a few of lines:  “महाराष्ट्राने तीन व्यक्तींवर जिवापाड प्रेम केलेलं आहे. ही महाराष्ट्राची सांस्कृतिक दैवतं आहेत असं म्हटलं तरी चालेल. पहिले म्हणजे छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराज, दुसरे लोकमान्य बाळ गंगाधर टिळक आणि तिसरे बालगंधर्व.”

Roughly translates as: “Maharashtra has given undying love to three great individuals. These three can be referred to as the cultural/historical gods of Maharashtra. First one is Shivaji Maharaj, second Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and third Bal Gandharva.”]

Coming back to the movie, Subodh Bhave in the lead role of Bal Gandharva is terrific. The screen-play, the sets, the direction are all excellent. At times, the movie has a slight documentary like feel and the viewer is transported to Maharashtra in the early part of the 20th century – an era that represented the golden age of Marathi Theater. The movie is thoroughly entertaining and engrossing. Music is an integral part of the movie and Anand Bhate has does an amazing job of singing the original Bal Gandharva classics.

‘Bal Gandharva’ presents many of the key events and periods in the life of Bal Gandharva, in a balanced manner, often leaving the interpretation to the viewer. His early years with the Kirloskar Natak Company…His amazing potrayal of female roles… Setting up his own Gandharva Natak Mandali… Struggles with his personal family life… His constant desire to leave no stone unturned to create a grand production for the audience, at any cost… His utter mismanagement of finances and resulting huge debts… The waning years of his career when theater audiences started defecting to the new medium of cinema… and through all this, his total perseverance and steadfast devotion to his primary love – Theater.

From a historical perspective, this movie shows many important characters and events. Lokmanya Tilak listening to a young Narayan (aged 10) and referring him as ‘Bal Gandharva’ for the first time, Anant Kanhere shooting Collector Jackson at a theater in Nashik, Ram Ganesh Gadkari at his death bed, Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, Maharaja of Baroda, a young V Shantaram convincing Bal Gandharva to switch to this new medium called ‘Cinema’,…and many more. I personally like historical movies and Bal Gandharva scores really well in this area as well.

Do watch ’Bal Gandharva’ if you are a fan of theater, history or music. The movie has English sub-titles.

I will close with this line (by Ga Di Madgulkar?): “”असा बालगंधर्व आता न होणे!”

A visit to the historic Parvati hill

Parvati Hill In The Evening

 Recently, visited the Parvati hill in Pune, after many years. It was a great experience. The skyline (and the history) of Pune is incomplete without Parvati.  The Parvati temple complex is situated on top of a small hill in Pune. A short 5-7 minute climb via well-laid stone stairs takes you to the top. These stone stairs are quite wide and were designed to let elephants climb all the way to the top. The hill has a few temples, the Samadhi of Nanasaheb Peshwe, and a Peshwe Museum. 

 

Nanasaheb Peshwe Samadhi

 

Peshwe Museum

 

Parvati hill was developed by Nanasaheb Peshwe in 1749. Around the same period, he also built a big lake at the foothills of Parvati, that stretched all the way to present day Hirabag. A small beautiful island ‘Sarasbag’ was developed in the middle of this lake. About 40 years later, Sawai Madhavrao Peshwe setup a Ganesh temple on this island… this is the modern day ‘Talyatla Ganpati’. Parvati was a popular retreat for the Peshwes until their fall in 1818.

 

Parvati has witnessed many historically important events over the past 250+ years. Shocked and grief-stricken after the disaster at the battle of Panipat, Nanasaheb Peshwe passed away at Parvati. Parvati was the site where the Peshwes distributed ‘Dakshina’ to thousands of learned scholars. These scholars used to travel here from all over India. ‘Dakshina’ was given commensurate with their knowledge and expertise. From Parvati, Bajirao II witnessed the 3rd (and last) Anglo-Maratha war in 1817, that was fought near Khadki (present day University of Pune campus). After the Maratha defeat he fled from Parvati and was on the run for a few months, before eventually signing a treaty with the British. During the British Raj, The Prince of Wales visited Parvati (riding in an elephant) around 1870.

 

The present day Parvati complex has seen some good renovation work in the recent years. The Devdeveshwar Trust has done a great job in the maintenance and redevelopment of various sites on the hill. The Peshwe Museum is very good and holds various paintings, artifacts, weapons, manuscripts and coins from the Peshwe Era. It is a bit similar to the famous Raja Kelkar Museum in Pune. The Nanasaheb Peshwe Samadhi is very well maintained and a new courtyard has been constructed around the old Wada. Certain parts of the old Wada are still in a good shape and a great attraction is a 250 year old ‘Chapha’ tree. This was specifically planted in the 1750s to ensure fresh flowers for the Puja. The main temples – Devdeveshwar Temple, Vishnu Temple, Kartikeya Temple, Shri Vitthal Temple and Ramana Temple  are also quite well maintained.

 

 

250 year old Chapha Tree (with a view of the old Wada) 

 

I would strongly recommend any Punekar or a Pune visitor to checkout this great historic site… - a place that has literally ‘watched over’ Pune’s fortunes for over two and half centuries.

 

A view of Pune from Parvati

Helpful links for more information and history about Parvati:

 

http://www.parvatidarshan.in

http://sdspune.in/html/about-the-trust.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commemorating 250 years of the Battle of Panipat

3rd Battle Of Panipat (image credit: wikipedia)

January 14, 1761 – the fateful day that forever will live in the infamy of Pune, Maharashtra and India history. This was the day that coined a new word in the Marathi lexicon: ‘Panipat’ (literally means ‘a disaster’ in Marathi).

This was the day when Sadashivrao Bhau’s armies were defeated in a bloody battle against Ahmedshah Abdalli on the plains of Panipat, 100km north of Delhi, in one of the biggest battles witnessed in India in the 18th century. The causalities and destruction on both sides were very high; even the victor couldn’t consolidate his position significantly.

This was the day where a culmination of many strategic and tactical mistakes finally caught up with the Marathas. This was the day when the Maratha Empire took a big step down from its absolute peak. This was the day from whose shock Nanasaheb Peshwe never recovered – and eventually died later in the same year.

[The fact that the Maratha Empire was able to rise back to a respectable level again owes a lot to the great Madhavrao Peshwe, who inherited a shocked and weakened post-Panipat empire at a young age of 16. In a short span of 12 years, before he fell to tuberculosis, he brought about a huge turnaround. British historian Grant Duff summarizes this quite well: "...the plains of Panipat were not more fatal to the Maratha Empire than the early end of this excellent prince"] 

Maratha Empire in 1760 (image credit: wikipedia)

This was the day where many great instances of individual bravery and heroism were witnessed. This was the day that quite possibly changed the course of Indian history. The British who had just won their first major victory in India at Plassey in 1757 got an opening. 

Today, we solemnly commemorate the 250th anniversary of 3rd battle of Panipat. This is the time to remember the heroism; and also to learn from the mistakes. Today we remember Sadashivrao Bhau, Vishwasrao, Dattaji Shinde, Ibrahim Gardi and countless other brave soldiers who fell in that fateful battle, 250 years ago. All over Maharashtra and India, many functions have been organized to remember this day, including some at Panipat.

Numerous books and research works have been published on this topic. To get an overview, I would recommend the reader start with this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Panipat_(1761)

——Update on Feb 7, 2011—–

Vishwas Patil has written one of the most popular books about the Battle of Panipat. Originally written in Marathi nearly 20 years back, it has had many new editions/reprints and has been translated into other languages as well. Here is a nice indepth interview of Vishwas Patil (4 parts):