Opinion Editorial
Published: May 20, 2013 00:24 IST | Updated: May 20, 2013 00:24
IST
Hampis past awaits a future
There is hardly any archaeological site in this country that is
as rich in history, vast in expanse, spectacular in sightand
complex in nature as Hampi. Conserving this medieval city,
integrating it with its surroundings and enrichingthe tourist
experience, is a challenge. Unfortunately, despite repeated
demands, archaeologists and the authoritiesin Karnataka have not
even finalised a comprehensive plan to sensibly conserve this
historic place. This delay, asUnescos World Heritage Committee
recently observed, has caused concern about the future of Hampi.
When thisroyal city, built between the 14th and 16th centuries by
the Vijayanagara kings, was nominated for world heritagestatus in
1982, Unesco pointed out that conservation cannot be limited to a
select group of 56 monuments. ThoughUnesco conferred world heritage
status on Hampi in 1986, it strongly recommended that the
Archaeological Surveyof India delineate a larger area and include
more monuments. Hampi is not a simple set of standalone
monuments.It is a large cultural landscape where more than 1500
historic structures co-exist with many living villages,
fertileagricultural lands and numerous water bodies. Conservation
cannot exist in isolation. It has to be seamlessly wovenwith the
development of the region.
For long, no progress was made on this front. Public pressure,
and the listing of Hampi as an endangered worldheritage site in
1999 forced the State government into action. Finally, in 2003, the
government set up a HampiWorld Heritage Area Management Authority
(HWAMA) to coordinate with various agencies including the ASI
todraw up an integrated management plan. Though it delineated a
larger region of about 210 sq km around thearchaeological zone, the
authority has not yet finalised the integrated plan, which would
address mobility issues,environment concerns, monument protection
and community interests. In its defence, the government may
pointout that it has already notified a Master Plan for Hampi. But
the fact is that master plans and their conventionaltools such as
land use regulations are inadequate to handle complex sites. Two
years ago, the HWAMA evictedhundreds of families residing in the
bazaar area in front of the Virupaksha temple, which is the only
religiousstructure under worship. George Michell and John Fritz,
architectural historians who have studied Hampi fordecades,
perceptively remarked that archaeological departments can neither
neglect monuments, which leads toencroachments, nor clear
inhabitants in heritage areas to promote five-star tourism. The way
forward is toimplement a sustainable plan with local participation,
and do so without delay.
Keywords: archaeology, Hampi, Archaeological Survey of India
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