Context

• In his Independence Day addresses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has frequently called on citizens to honour the legacy of those who fought against colonial rule.
• His reminders, though timely, often remain symbolic, naming a handful of freedom fighters or quoting their words, rather than offering substantive ways of engaging with India’s past.
• This superficiality mirrors the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) own approach to heritage: conserving monuments by isolating, repairing, and occasionally beautifying them.
• While these efforts are not without value, they fall short of addressing the enormity and complexity of India’s historical landscape.

Colonial Legacies and Present Shortcomings

• The roots of India’s conservation practices lie in colonial ambitions.
• British officers catalogued monuments and codified preservation laws, motivated less by cultural reverence and more by administrative control.
• John Marshall’s Conservation Manual (1923), with its emphasis on structural repair and landscaped surroundings, continues to shape ASI practices nearly a century later.
• Yet, surveys, audits, and court rulings reveal that many protected monuments are crumbling, with conservation policies inconsistently followed.
• The government’s invitation for corporations to adopt monuments illustrates a shift toward privatisation but risks reducing heritage into commodified symbols rather than shared cultural legacies.

Learning from Gandhi and the Arts of Translation

• A more meaningful roadmap begins with revisiting alternative visions, such as Gandhi’s Sarvodaya, his rendering of John Ruskin’s essays.
• Gandhi emphasised dignity in all forms of labour, collective welfare, and admiration for craft.
• If applied to conservation, these values would expand preservation beyond mere structural integrity to improving the lives of surrounding communities and enriching visitor engagement.
• Monuments would no longer be cordoned relics but spaces where resilience, ingenuity, and human interconnectedness are celebrated.
• The practice of translation further offers powerful metaphors. Modern translators recognise that meanings shift across time and language, and that fidelity to the past requires acknowledging distance rather than erasing it.
• Conservation too must embrace transparency: interventions should be visible, ensuring visitors distinguish between the ancient and the restored.
• Just as translators periodically revisit texts for relevance, conservationists should review preservation materials for appropriateness, preventing harm to historical fabrics.

Lessons from Science and Ecology and the Role of Citizens

• Lessons from Science and Ecology
  • Conservation, the text argues, can draw insights from diverse fields.
  • Wildlife biologists highlight the importance of ecosystems rather than isolated species, a perspective that encourages viewing monuments within broader landscapes of water bodies, forests, and settlements.
  • This could even mean dismantling boundary walls that cut monuments off from their environments.
  • Similarly, mycologists demonstrate how fungi, agents of decay and renewal, sustain life cycles.
  • By analogy, neglected monuments such as old wells, cisterns, and city walls can be reimagined as resources that secure water, provide habitats, and foster community spaces.
  • Economics too reframes conservation. Economists show that value lies in function, not appearance.
  • A haveli’s natural ventilation may be more significant than a newly painted façade.
  • Concepts such as scarcity and creative destruction can guide conservation strategies, from justifying larger budgets to transforming submerged temples into laboratories for underwater archaeology.
  • In each case, the point is clear: heritage should be dynamic, adaptive, and generative.
• The Role of Citizens
  • Ultimately, heritage is not the ASI’s responsibility alone. In a country as diverse as India, the meaning of conservation is contested and contextual.
  • Citizens must cultivate literacy in the language of stones, reading biases of builders, listening to silenced voices, and confronting prejudices.
  • Monuments are not just relics but mirrors of society.
  • By engaging critically and empathetically, citizens can help transform India into a monument without walls, where the preservation of culture is inseparable from the shaping of a shared future.

Conclusion

• The challenges before India is to move beyond colonial-era conservation practices toward a richer, more inclusive vision.
• Monuments should not be polished remnants of the past but living sites that connect communities, ecosystems, and histories.
• Drawing on Gandhi’s philosophy, translators’ sensitivities, ecological thinking, and economic insights, the ASI and citizens alike can co-author a new conservation manual, one that values memory, dialogue, and the multiplicity of perspectives.
• In doing so, India can conserve not just its stones, but the diverse voices and lives they embody.