ABSTRACT
Important religious shrines of India represented to the colonial administrators of the 19th century a conveniently ruined Indian past which could be recovered, repaired and protected. The enactment of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act (AMPA) dramatically extended the sphere of the bureaucratic state as the conserver and protector of these sacred centres and converted living shrines into ‘monuments’. This chapter explores the issue of ownership as defined in the AMPA and earlier legislations. It argues that the colonial project of ‘discovery’, conservation and protection of monuments failed to take into account the complex nature of sacred centres in Orissa. The transformation of religious establishments and complexes into ‘monuments’ and the transfer of their custody to the government provoked protest from other important stakeholders. The issue of ownership of sacred shrines developed sharply during the destruction of the Padeshvari temple and use of its stone for the repair of the Parvati temple.
