Another heritage site taking shape in Gujarat

Recreating the history and romance of the medieval city of Champaner-Pavagadh, 40km from Vadodara in Gujarat has already begun ever since it got listed on the World Heritage Site (WHS) list of the Unesco in July this year.

Ruins of pre-Moghul city, Pavagadh on top of the hill and Champaner at the base with temples, fortresses, mosques, tunnels, imposing structures, palaces and an elaborate water supply system are enough to fire anyone's imagination of what it once was.

Protection and restoration is a huge task. A prestigious mention in the WHS list may not earn big funds from the UN organisation but it would certainly create awareness among the local population as well as the rest of the country to preserve their heritage.

"Maharashtra is one of the few states that protects its monuments but in the rest of India, it is quite easy to demolish a historical site without any interference from the authorities," says Karan Grover, President of Vadodara-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Heritage Trust.

He and his colleagues of the Trust as well as experts from the MS University, Vadodara, are quite excited over how Gujarat's first WHS, and India's 26th, is going to take shape in the coming years.

It has to be developed into a tourist destination to earn revenue for itself as well get corporate support, says Grover. This NGO fought for the recognition of Champaner-Pavagadh for 22 years because, he says, it is ranked by historians as being as significant and important as the two other medieval capitals in India, Fatehpur Sikri and Hampi-Vijayanagara.

An international platform was already given to the hill top and base level town when it was listed on the New York-based World Monuments Fund's 100 Most Endangered Heritage Sites.

What is so special about this medieval city is that it fulfilled most of the requirements for being listed on the WHS, of being a site with archaeological, architectural, natural and sacred values as well as living heritage.

Presently, more than 100,000 pilgrims visit the Kalikamata temple on the summit of the 800-metre high Pavagadh mountain. Historians call it the most authentic of all such historic cities because all the information about the original settlement is available below the ground, without any transformation. Studies and findings also reveal the town had human occupation as early as the Stone Age and reveals a recorded history from pre-Moghul second century to the 16th century, says Grover.

Champaner-Pavagadh was once ruled by the Khichi Chauhans (descendants of Prithviraj Chauhan) who fortified the hill and later by the Mehmud Begda, who was the grandson of Ahmed Shah who established Ahmedabad.

Champaner's Jama Masjid is considered to be one of the most important monuments in India in the development of mosque architecture of the world.

After tirelessly documenting all the data on this site, Heritage Trust is developing an integrated management plan for its future conservation. It has identified 114 monuments so far and has put up a relentless fight for its protection by making various representations to the Government of India and the Gujarat government.

"We even filed a public interest litigation in the Gujarat High Court to stop quarrying in the vicinity of the site and finally moved the Supreme Court which passed an order to end this problem," says Grover.

The team has brought an exhibition of "Champaner-Pavagadh: Forgotten No More" to Mumbai's Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya (formerly the Prince of Wales Museum) stir up the corporate bodies to participate in the restoration, reconstruction and awareness projects.