ABSTRACT
The field of heritage conservation in India has been dominated by the Archaeological Survey of India since the middle of the nineteenth century. Additionally, allied fields of archaeology, planning, landscape architecture, economic, and community development – among others – are increasingly playing a more important role in heritage conservation, making it truly an interdisciplinary enterprise. Landscape preservation in India has dwelled mostly on natural landscapes in the form of state and national parks, areas of scenic wonder that were thought of as relatively “pristine” with minimal human contact. In a positive development, heritage conservation has expanded to include historic designed landscapes such as parks and gardens. Going forward, heritage conservation will need to expand beyond the urban to non-urban settings to create local policies to protect heritage and ensure compliance with national- and state-level policies for ASI-listed monuments and sites.
