1 Contents About the volume...........................................................................................3 Compiling Records Kasaba Ganpati Temple, Pune Parag Narkhede..............................................................................................5 Budaun ‘Piranshahr’: The city of saints Jinisha Jain.....................................................................................................14 Methods and Approaches Natural heritage and cultural landscapes: Understanding Indic values Amita Sinha...................................................................................................23 History: a responsible story Surbhi Gupta.................................................................................................29 Visual documentation as a tool for conservation: Part I, North Chowringhee Road, Kolkata Himadri Guha, Biswajit Thakur, Swaguna Datta...................................35 Dholavira: Ancient water harnessing system Swastik Harish..............................................................................................53 Havelis and chhattas of Saharanpur O C Handa ....................................................................................................59 Post independence growth of Delhi: A legal perspective Panchajanya Batra Singh.............................................................................67 Aaraish-e-Balda: Planning open spaces and water bodies Sajjad Shahid ...............................................................................................75 Sustainable Solutions Bicycle compatibility in Indian Cities Geetam Tiwari and Himani Jain................................................................85 A resource based tourism development: Havelock and Neil Islands Anshu Meshack ...........................................................................................93 Book Review The Holy Ganga by Kaushal Kishore Reviewed by Meeta Khilnani....................................................................101 Events and Conferences...........................................................................102 Heritage Album Narnaul: Where lions roamed Rakhshanda Jalil.........................................................................................103 3 Chief Editor Shikha Jain Editor About the Volume Cheena Kanwal Managing Editor This issue of Context provides fresh perspectives of looking Prabha Prabhakar Bhardwaj at cultural landscapes and history. Amita Sinha presents a new Assistant Editor approach for a modernising society in transition such as India, Parul G Munjal where she proposes ‘natural archetypes as keystones of conservation planning and design at pilgrim sites’, with an attempt to achieve Consulting Editors a coherent place identity. Surbhi Gupta challenges the bias in Ajay Khare, Kewal Khanna Suchandra Bardhan recording history and proposes a more responsible methodology for the historians of today, where ‘history can take the initiative of Editorial Advisors becoming more than a narrative or sequence of events, situations Adam Hardy, and practices’. PRASADA, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff, UK Besides these contemplative approaches, articles in this issue focus on establishing significance of the traditional water harnessing A.G.K. Menon systems of Dholavira and pre independence planning of water Convener, Intach Delhi Chapter New Delhi bodies and open spaces in Hyderabad. The architectural richness and embodied traditional systems of the havelis and chhattas of Madhuri Desai Saharanpur are revealed by OC Handa. An exploration of the use Assistant Professor of visual documentation as a tool for conservation comes through Penn State University, Pennsylvania, USA the article on Kolkata. Also, a legal overview of post independence growth of Delhi is presented, highlighting important legislations and Rima Hooja legal mechanisms that fundamentally affect the city. MSID India Program, University of Minnesota, USA In the section on sustainable solutions; Geetam Tiwari and Himani Shankar Ghose Jain argue for bicycles as a suitable mode of transport for Indian Charkha, cities and call for bicycle compatibility in the urban environment. Development Communication Network, Anshu Meshack analyses the tourism impact in Andaman Islands New Delhi and charters a greater involvement of the locals along with an Monideep Chattopadhyay appropriate sensitivity to the unparalleled ecological wealth. Chief Executive Centre for Habitat, The book review by Meeta Khilnani looks at one of the most Environment and Disaster Management, pressing concerns of the nation today; the condition of the holy river Kolkata Ganges. Layout & Design SN Graphix The need for documenting our urban and rural heritage is elaborated (011) 46142909, 9891299959 through the initial articles on Kasaba Ganapati temple and Budaun, while the heritage album on Narnaul presents the rich architecture Copyright © 2009 Dronah, India of the historic place. All rights reserved including the right to reproduce and contents of this publication in whole or in part without prior written permission of the publishers. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic - Shikha Jain or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilm- ing and recording or by any information storage and retreival system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed and published by DRONAH A-258, South City - I, Gurgaon-122 001 Tel: 0124-4082081,2381067, Fax: 0124-4269081 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.dronah.org ISSN No : 0973-502X Vol VI Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2009 4 Compiling Records Compiling Records Kasaba Ganapati Temple, Pune Parag Govardhan Narkhede.................................... 5 Parag Govardhan Narkhede is a faculty member at Bharatiya Kala Prasarini Sabha’s College of Architecture at Pune University, Pune. He specialises in architecture and town planning. Budaun Piranshahr The City of Saints Jinisha Jain.............................................................. 14 Jinisha Jain is an architectural journalist, a conservation architect and a visiting faculty at Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. She was awarded T J Manickam Gold Medal in 2006. Her research interests include history, heritage, cross-cultural studies, urban spaces and architecture. Compiling Records 5 Kasaba Ganapati Temple, Pune paRag GOVARDHAN NARKHEDE ABSTRACT The Kasaba Ganapati Temple is amongst the oldest existing built structures of Pune and is a significant component of the cultural heritage of the city. The transformations; observed in this temple, are a reflection of the development of the local temple form in Pune. The juxtaposition of its various façade elements reveals a range of architectural styles through the times. The current interventions in the temple point towards the need for establishing a comprehensive understanding of the site; through research and documentation, subsequently leading to a sensitive conservation approach for the site. 6 Compiling Records Front elevation INTRODUCTION Kasaba Ganapati, the oldest existing temple of Pune dating from the 17th century is situated in the area called Kasaba Peth, located in the heart of the city. Kasaba Peth is the oldest inhabited portion of the city where three original villages, namely Kasarli, Kumbharli, Punewadi collectively form the new Pune. The Kasaba grew organically, to develop a system of wadas (courtyard housing) as sub units of the peth (a colony), housing specific communities with their own deities and temples. Compiling Records 7 Pooja stalls on either The temple was constructed around 1636 AD at the time of Shahaji side of entrance Raje and Jijabai. The two temples Kasaba Ganapati and Kedareshwar temple are said to be the original nucleus of the city and while the Kedareshwar Temple was rebuilt during the period of Peshwa Bajirao (1720-1740 AD), the Kasaba Ganapati Temple retains parts of its original fabric. The temple owned by Kasaba Ganapati Charitable Trust, is the city’s religious focal point, being the gram devata (deity of a village) of Pune, visited by large number of devotees from the city and the state of Maharashtra. On specific festive days like Angaraki Chaturthi, Ganesh Festival, Sankashti and Vinayaki, the numbers of devotees are even higher. TEMPLE FORM AND CONSTRUCTION The typical temple form of the Kasaba Ganapati Temple with a sabhamandapa (pillared hall) and garbhagriha (inner sanctuary) 8 Compiling Records topped by a shikhara (spire), is obscured from vision, as the visitor enters through a triple storeyed structure. The central temple form is enclosed by a two storeyed built form topped by galvanised iron (GI) sheets, that has a residential street character. The inner sanctuary and pillared hall are surrounded by a pradakshina-path (circumambulatory path) used by the devotees, further surrounded by verandahs called otta or osari. The materials and architectural styles suggest three distinct stages of development. The first layer is seen in the trabeate stone construction as in the garbhagriha that according Joining detail of wooden column and beam in Osari to historical information dates from North First floor plan North Ground floor plan Compiling Records 9 early 17th century; the second is from the Peshwa period (early 18th century) with wooden decorative elements (such as the ceiling, arches and brackets) representing the vernacular vocabulary, while the third layer is from the colonial period. The