Jiirnnoddharana

Every civilization leaves behind a legacy of footprints in the form of rich architectural heritage for the benefit of its later generations. Heritage conservation is all about ‘keeping in touch with the past’ by maintaining such legacies left behind in material and less tangible forms. They are not to be regarded as mere isolated objects worthy of preservation, but as sources of inspiration and living evidence of the physical representation of the social and cultural past. It is the responsibility of every citizen to value and respect these symbols of the past, as they are not gifted to them by their ancestors, but loaned from future generations. As in the case with every responsibility, even in conservation, we too abide by a set of principles. The philosophies of conservation as practiced today are based on the key principles of care, stewardship and that of truth embedded in the heritage element. In the Western world, primarily in Europe, a discourse on these notions evolved during the mid-nineteenth century, based on the work by Ruskin, Viollet-le-Duc, and others (Jokilehto 1999). Some, promoting the idea of stewardship, advocated the philosophy of conservative repair to ensure that historic structures survive as long as possible and suffer only the least alteration (Ruskin 1889). Others advocated the philosophy of stylistic restoration, stating that what is picturesque today might well be only a memory tomorrow, and what could be skillfully substituted today would, in turn, weather and become picturesque to later generations (Earl 2003). Thus, the question of the significance of authenticity and truthfulness of historic structures emerged as a key concept in the modern conservation discourse (Jokilehto 2006). In India, conservation thinking with a slightly differing viewpoint had existed long ago, in essence, in parts of vāstuśastra, ¹ the ancient science of architecture and planning in India, in the form of jiirnnoddharana. Jiirnnoddharana, according to the traditional Indian treatises, was, however, not as romantic as the Western philosophies and was meant to be practical and purely of a functional nature.