ABSTRACT
Heritage discourses and heritage-making processes today are increasingly becoming entangled with religion and identity. In India, too, heritage has become a deeply contentious subject, particularly with the ascendancy of Hindu nationalism, which constructs an exclusive Hindu past and attempts to obliterate the history and heritage of other communities, such as Muslims and Christians. This chapter focuses on the contested heritage-scape of multi-religious and multicultural Varanasi, an ancient holy city revered by Hindus, located on the bank of the sacred river Ganges, proudly displaying both Hindu and Islamic heritage. Varanasi has been a symbol of Hindu-Muslim co-living for centuries, demonstrating a shared heritage, from music to weaving. However, heritage discourses in Varanasi have progressively become exclusive and contentious, involving diverse players and power relations, thus threatening intercommunity harmony and endangering the city’s rich material and cultural heritage. Moreover, the iconic Ganges, a natural, cultural, and sacred heritage par excellence, faces extinction.
