RURAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

DELWARA AS A CASE

Research Design Proposal

Vaibhav Prakash Department of Architectural Conservation School of Planning and Architecture December 2011

Qualitative Surveys s

Decembe 3, 2011 er

Topic ted Developmen Plan for Delwara, Rajasthan Heritage conservati as a nt r ion Integrat Rural D driver - Research D Design Delwara is a semi urban settlement l s located nea Udaipur on NH8 co ar onnecting Delhi & D Udaipur It is abou 28 kms fro Udaipur and aroun 15 kms fr Nathdw r. ut om r nd rom wara.

Figu 1(a&b): Reg ure gional setting of Delwara in Mewar Region & Its location on NH-8 f n

It lies i the valle of Arav in ey valli range o Udaipur (refer Fig1) which c of r constitutes physical p boundar between Mewar and Marwa regions. ry n a ar This place enjoys being basi and prov in vides water d ds. for agricultural and basic need llage was h historically part of one of the 16 e This vil ital of the thikanas of Mewa rule and was capi ar d Delwara thikana. J Jhala Rajput ruled this place. This t place w also kno as Devk Pattan N was own kul Nagari: the town of gods. As said, ther were aro f s re ound 1000 temples in the reg s gion out of which 400 were Jain 0 temples Delwara, Nagda and Aayad were the s. a centre f culture and busines in fifteen century. Delwara was said to be spread between for ss nth . w b Gandha Sagar an Nagda; only 25% of the town re arv nd o f emains now w.
Figure 2: Conjectural exta of Delwara town in C tant 15th cen entury

Vaibha Prakash av

Department of Architec ctural Conse ervation

Qualitative Surveys

December 3, 2011

Traditionally, Delwara being the centre of commerce and culture enjoyed great amount of attraction. Demographically, this place has higher number of trading communities like Jains, Baniyas etc. residing in the town. Yadav community was brought in from Uttar Pradesh by then rulers to build fort in the town located on a hillock over looking the town. All offices pertaining to administration were located within the fort itself. Main bazar is forms the main spine of the town, whereas, now NH -8 provides lateral entry to the town which has now taken shape of formal entry to the town. Currently, Delwara has been classified as a village and holds a Gram Panchayat. Basic infrastructure like sanitation, solid waste disposal and livelihoods, youth resource management, women empowerment, health & heritage management have been some issues which are neglected in the area. Current system of administration is different from what used to in the past. This village used to enjoy designation of Thikana headquarter whereas now it is designated as a village. This changes the functioning of the place and attention given to the place. Earlier, due to centre of power and administration, a large number of trading community resided in the settlement; whereas, now this community has started to move out. It also drains the economic wealth of the settlement. Next issue is regarding the community of Delwara; there are certain issues in this big umbrella like livelihood, gender inequality issues, lack of proper education and awareness. Loss of traditional building knowledge system has also been noted in the area. Currently, agriculture is the main occupation of the village. Traders and merchants of the village have moved out and have settled in Ahmedabad, Udaipur or Mumbai. Delwara faces scarcity of water and fodder for certain months in a year; this makes villagers to lookout for alternative livelihood during these months. Especially during draught season, farmers have to go out of the village to find alternate occupation. Certain class, who can afford education, are working in either Udaipur or Nathdwara and others, who can afford, have set up their alternate occupation within the Delwara. Women, in particular are not allowed to work except in some communities, where they are allowed to work in their fields. Rajasthan in general is a conservative society. Women especially from Rajput families are hard to find outside their households. Literacy rate in females is weak as compared to males. They are forced to drop out from schools in early ages.
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Vaibhav Prakash

Department of Architectural Conservation

Qualitative Surveys

December 3, 2011

Delwara lies in the Aravalli range. As mentioned earlier, it enjoys being a basin. Therefore, harvesting rain water and its judicious use is very important in the area. Palera talab, water tank, which is located on the NH8, is the main feeder of water to the village. Feeder canals of this tank come from kms away and have to be taken care of. Water is needed for agriculture and household needs as well. Currently, Delwara has piped water supply which pumps water from Trimukhi Baoli. Pumping water from this baoli has resulted into lack of maintenance and loss of natural water purification system. Traditional system related to harvesting water is getting lost as water structures like baolis, wells and Kund have lost their glory. The treatment of these structures was exclusive. This is now getting lost. As mentioned in previous pages, this place was called Devkul Pattan Nagari and used to house some 1000 temples. Out of these 1000 temples roughly 20 survived till now. Rajasthan lacks in providing protection to rural heritage, whereas it has CDPs for cities. There has been no listing so far done for the village and its surrounding area or the area which is supposed to be Delwara in earlier times as mentioned in previous pages. The main attraction of place the Delwara fort which has now been converted into a heritage resort is a private property and has not been listed. The only structure which comes under ASI purview is Saas-Bahu ka Mandir located in Nagda. Eklingji temple itself is a private property of Maharana of Mewar. Heritage structures such as temples, baolis, water tanks, kunds, residential structures, fort along with various natural feature which are necessary for existence of this place are important and worth protecting. Identification, mapping and protection is needed for

sustainable growth of the village and its surrounding areas. Delwara fort was bought up by a corporate group and got converted into a heritage hotel called Devi Garh. This opened up gates for tourism in the village. People of Delwara also started looking at Devi Garh as their source of income. Many got directly associated with Devi Garh in terms of employment. Others got attached with it to generate alternate livelihoods like photographers, guides, shop owners etc. Devi Garh too has its negative impact on the village. Devi Garh is a profit making hotel which consumes water in high quantity. Indra Kund located outside the fort has been tested for BOD levels and has been found way above normal. This indicates that functioning of such an industry is also harmful for the villagers. Such industry is not controlled; proper assessment for carrying capacity has not been done. Moreover, Devi Garh is promoting staged cultural tourism in the area. This is as dangerous as anything else. Devi Garh is needed for economic development of the area but its processes have to be checked properly and shall be regulated time to time.
Vaibhav Prakash Department of Architectural Conservation
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Qualitative Surveys

December 3, 2011

Role of Seva Mandir and National Foundation for India Seva Mandir, NGO, works towards empowerment of communities and to enhance their selfgovernance capacity. It started working first with women of Delwara for their empowerment and formed Sadhna. It is a self-income generating, self-governed body for and by local women. In due course of time, Seva Mandir has also involved women from other villages. Now, out of 600 women, 250 are from Delwara itself. Here too they launched a project along with National Foundation for India, the fund raising agency. This project is an Urban Governance Project which undertakes implementation projects under various sub heads, heritage being one of them. Below mentioned are the excerpts from Seva Mandir and National Foundation for India regarding the programme in Delwara.
Peri-Urban Governance Project Delwara Delwara village is a part of the Delwara Panchayat of Rajsamand district and is located 30 km North-east of Udaipur on the Indian National Highway 8. With a population of over 500 families Delwara, the hub of local commerce, has grown to the size of a small town and is now more commonly referred to as a peri-urban township. Delwara has some of the best womens groups of Seva Mandirs work area with three groups engaged in patchwork activity. These womens groups are also involved in the savings and credit program. Nagrik Vikas Manch The Nagrik Vikas Manch (Peoples Development Forum) is an unregistered entity initiated collectively by Seva Mandir and the people of Delwara. It has been continuously functioning for close to 7 years and is committed towards the vision and objectives people set for them through this forum. It works in five key areas- Water and Sanitation, Heritage, Education, Livelihood and Youth Development. Vision The vision of the Nagrik Vikas Manch is to promote local self-governance and responsible citizenship in Delwara, which can be helpful in creating a strong community of responsible citizens who would be able to take on the responsibility of development for their own village in the future. Objectives
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Evolving a strong, sustainable partnership of local institution with local government machinery as well as other local organizations. Creating a platform for integrated learning with space for various partners involved in rural development. Promoting the idea of sustainability and self-help amongst various classes of people.

Vaibhav Prakash

Department of Architectural Conservation

Qualitative Surveys

December 3, 2011

Delwara being a peri-urban settlement and has its own set of unique problems and solutions are needed that create and cultivates a culture that promotes equity of rights and sustainable livelihood along-with mutual respect amongst the society.1

NFI partnership with Seva Mandir, has been working alongside the citizens of Delwara to improve the quality of life through a project based on an integrated and process oriented approach to development linking dialogue, conversation and action. The initiative has involved the citizens of Delwara in a constructive manner through a local platform. It has specifically engaged with women and the youth, and addressed the wide range of problems faced by Delwara through Delwara's own human resources.2

Since the perception of Nagrik Vikas Manch in Delwara, there has been substantial difference in the lifestyle and level of awareness of villagers. Heritage management became part of the programme by intervention of an expert rather than emerging from the grass route level. Whereas, still there is a need to revisit the heritage component of Delwara; there is need to understand the significance of each component and need to identify, map and conserve them. Overall, there is a need for sustainable development in the village.

Significance/Relevance Significance of this project is the uniqueness of the settlement which Has strong historical past along with dotted remains scattered all over the place both over ground and underground, Interdependency with natural features Traditional knowledge system building techniques & water harvesting systems. And exploring these factors to act as economic generation mechanism for local community.

Heritage-based rural development helps build sustainable communities and strengthen regional economies through the conservation, use, and promotion of historic and cultural assets. These assets may include buildings, structures, districts, Main Streets, Bazaars. and landscapes, as well as regional arts, crafts, music, food, and events. This approach supports and complements other rural development efforts. Through this project one wants to demonstrate how conservation of heritage resources can become driver for integrated development in rural India.

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http://www.sevamandir.org/what-we-do/other-interventions/peri-urban-governance-project-delwara http://www.nfi.org.in/index.php/delwara-report

Vaibhav Prakash

Department of Architectural Conservation

Qualitative Surveys

December 3, 2011

Audience Targeted audience for this work would be local community, administrative offices at National level, State level and at Local level like Panchayat, Nagar Panchayat, NGOs working in the field of rural development, Donors, professionals (architects, conservation architects, and social scientists), researchers, scholars, tourism industry etc.

Literature Review Internet Rajasthan State Environment Policy 2010 Department of Environment, Govt. of Rajasthan, Jaipur Environment related details and future development path. Hardiman, David; Knowledge of the Bhils and their Systems of Healing; The Indian Historical Review, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 2006, pp.202-24 Lindberg, James; Heritage-Based Rural Development; Forum Journal; Winter 2010 | Vol. 24 No. 2. http://www.ruralheritagereadingproject.org/ http://www.aicomos.com/2010-outback-and-beyond/program/breakoutabstracts/developing-a-state-government-strategy-for-identifying-conservingpromoting-and-managing-rural-heritage/ Sandstorm, Christinia; Cultural heritage as part of developmental strategy in rural areas. Open Archive, ICOMOS Rural Heritage Practice: The Burra Charter in the Bush, 1999 Australia ICOMOS National Conference. Lennon, Jane L; Beyond The Pale The Plight Of Remote Area Heritage Masi, Alessandro De; University of Naples Federico II (Italy);UNESCO World Heritage Centre,Rural Vernacular Heritage Research: Report 1,Campania Felix (Italy), Cultural Landscape and Governance of Rural environments http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/rural-heritage/toolkit/conservation/identifyassets/ Rural Heritage Stage Study II, Greater Taree City Council, Draft Report, April 2003.
Vaibhav Prakash Department of Architectural Conservation
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Qualitative Surveys

December 3, 2011

Library Rajputana Gazeteer Volume II, Chapter X - Mewar historical and economic related details will be extracted from this chapter. Erskine. K.D; The Mewar Residency; Facsimile of 1908 ed. Payne, C.H; Tods Annals of Rajasthan Bhattacharya, A.N; Human Geography of Mewar; Himanshu Publication, 2000. Williams, James Mickel; Our Rural Heritage: The Social Psychology of Rural Development; A. A. Knopf Publishers, New York, 1925. HISTORY Historical assets and related territory, Cultural heritage in rural and disperse areas, Project programme INTERREG IV C. Thesis

Methods/Data Collection/Management Survey methods needed for such work are varied. Both qualitative and quantitative surveys would be needed to extract data. Information will be extracted from secondary sources as well as it will be directly accessible from the primary survey done at the site. Survey would include different sort of methods: - quantitatively; one would have to obtain census data. Census data will be provided through a secondary source. In this particular case verification of census would not be possible. Hence, the information given from the concerned department would be treated as authentic. Physical survey of area will also be needed to generate map of the region. This shall be done on site with physical instruments. Sampling set is another method to extract data from field. As per requirement, in case of heritage structures in the village; listing of the structures would be done on census basis to make it as elaborate as possible. From this list, selected structures under different typologies would be surveyed. This creates the sampling set for survey. Data will be collected by different collection methods. Under this head there are three methods Observations, Participation and In depth Interview. Observation would be ideal for situation where one would want to remain subdue and carry on with his noting about the
Vaibhav Prakash Department of Architectural Conservation
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Qualitative Surveys

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community, this may happen during Gram Sabha to quietly understand the political dynamics of the village. This will be done to understand, record activities in the space to understand its heritage value. This can be done through sketches and taking notes. Participation in a process depends upon the willingness to open up with the people. Participation method is an exhaustive process. Generally, balance between observation and participation is needed for better understanding. Inventories made for heritage structure will require in depth interview of residents. Similarly, interviews of officials and other members like Ward Panch and other Panchayat members would also be needed to enquire about various policies and development plans. Officials from NGOs Seva Mandir and NFI would also be questioned in order record their reflection on this. Survey formats to determine economic value of heritage would be needed for visitors and locals. These would not require in depth interview; whereas, it would require brief time to explain the process to respondents and to register their answers. Data will be managed in under different heads. Data will have to be processed under different heads. Inventory of heritage structures is done by dividing the settlement into different zones. Under these zones certain structures like water bodies will fall under a typological sub set. They will be given different nomenclature which would describe their location on ground. Like inventory will have reference number like Del/Raj/01/WB or Del/Raj/02/Res Del Raj 01 WB Res Delwara Rajput Wada Serial Number Water Body Residential

Now, if this particular structure is a baoli; it will also be placed under sub set of water bodies of whole town. Such kind of management will help in comparative analysis of the data from various neighbourhoods. Similarly, raw data like interview will be kept under their respective heads and required data shall be extracted and further put under sub sets.

Vaibhav Prakash

Department of Architectural Conservation

Qualitative Surveys

December 3, 2011

Analysis Techniques First, processed data will have to be tested for its authenticity. Data collected from various secondary sources have to cross referred and analysed. This will determine the authenticity of the data. This may be done through Triangulation method, which establishes a particular fact by plotting and comparing two different sets of information. Archival data like history, archival maps, documents etc. can be analysed both externally and internally criticizing it. Externally criticizing may be done by above stated method cross checking. Whereas, internal criticizing can be done by dwelling upon the given set of information and taking it forward. In certain cases, oral history can play important clue in resolving the mystery regarding the authenticity of data. In depth interviews, answers during inventory survey and secondary sources may not be true. They can be biased. This should be identified while analysing the data. Identification of such biases can only be done if the sampling set includes whole range of samples. For example in this particular case; Caste system plays an important role. Rich and influential people occupy certain position in society and have their strong say in politics of the area. This may influence whole process of understanding a place and therefore, it results in ineffective policies for the area. While doing survey to calculate economic value of heritage resources, these rich and influential people, if taken as the sole set of sample; will influence survey adversely. Analysis of data will emerge with definitive and sensitizing concepts. Definitive concepts will have strong conclusions emerging out of analysis. In sensitizing concepts, patterns will emerge but they cant be strong enough to become concepts. This cant be proved logically. In this particular case, inventory of heritage resources will emerge with definitive patterns regarding their condition and its connection to the economic condition of household or inability of governance system to protect it, in case of public resource.

Ethics Ethics of survey depends upon the positioning of oneself in the society. One may decide how much to open regarding the survey in public. In this particular case, positioning of self is really important and it changes at different places. Politically, one has to be correct but places like Panchayat or NGOs office, Devi Garhs office where questions will lead to insight of
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various development and policies; one has to be explicit. Survey formats to evaluate
Vaibhav Prakash Department of Architectural Conservation

Qualitative Surveys

December 3, 2011

economic value of heritage resources have to be explicit. Questions regarding economic status of individual household may not be correct to ask explicitly; whereas, this may be determined through questions regarding their lifestyle. These questions need observation. Ones physical positioning is also important while surveying. Over friendly nature can dilute the information and can even waste time. Survey ethics shall be followed while surveying in the village.

Limitation This study is limited to Delwara and understanding of its features only. Time frame shall; also be considered as a limitation. Availability of relevant data from various data Certain information is not extractable due to unavailability of resources or denial for being interviewed. While doing economic survey, respondents ability to understand question and correctly answering the questions can alter over decision. Physical instruments and documentation on site will have some degree of error.

Future Direction India being such a dynamic country in terms of its cultural heritage, has being able to list only 3600 structures as of heritage structures. Cultural Heritage is spread over pan India, which needs to be acknowledged. Identification, mapping and protection of these cultural resources fall under different tiers of government that we have. This study would propose and demonstrate policy framework for identification, mapping and protection for such cultural resources in Rural India. This shall be taken forward as guidelines or base towards studying and developing policy guidelines for other parts of India with different context. This study is also useful for agencies (both government and non government) to decide upon their mandates while working in such area. Heritage values and their significance in
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integrated development framework needs to be understood by such agencies and departments.

Vaibhav Prakash Department of Architectural Conservation

Qualitative Surveys

December 3, 2011

Bibliography

Rajasthan State Environment Policy 2010 Department of Environment, Govt. of

Rajasthan, Jaipur Environment related details and future development path. Hardiman, David; Knowledge of the Bhils and their Systems of Healing; The Indian Historical Review, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 2006, pp.202-24 Lindberg, James; Heritage-Based Rural Development; Forum Journal; Winter 2010 | Vol. 24 No. 2. http://www.ruralheritagereadingproject.org/ http://www.aicomos.com/2010-outback-and-beyond/program/breakoutabstracts/developing-a-state-government-strategy-for-identifying-conservingpromoting-and-managing-rural-heritage/ Sandstorm, Christinia; Cultural heritage as part of developmental strategy in rural areas. Open Archive, ICOMOS Rural Heritage Practice: The Burra Charter in the Bush, 1999 Australia ICOMOS National Conference. Lennon, Jane L; Beyond The Pale The Plight Of Remote Area Heritage Masi, Alessandro De; University of Naples Federico II (Italy);UNESCO World Heritage Centre,Rural Vernacular Heritage Research: Report 1,Campania Felix (Italy), Cultural Landscape and Governance of Rural environments http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/rural-heritage/toolkit/conservation/identifyassets/ Rural Heritage Stage Study II, Greater Taree City Council, Draft Report, April 2003. Rajputana Gazeteer Volume II, Chapter X - Mewar historical and economic related details will be extracted from this chapter. Erskine. K.D; The Mewar Residency; Facsimile of 1908 ed. Payne, C.H; Tods Annals of Rajasthan Bhattacharya, A.N; Human Geography of Mewar; Himanshu Publication, 2000. Williams, James Mickel; Our Rural Heritage: The Social Psychology of Rural
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Development; A. A. Knopf Publishers, New York, 1925.

Vaibhav Prakash Department of Architectural Conservation