Steps for conservation of heritage in Assam

Mahmood Hassan

(The writer is Director, Char Areas Development, Assam He can be reached at mahmoodhassan61786@gmail.com)

During the last Assembly session "The Assam Heritage (Tangible) Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Maintenance Bill, 2020" was passed to protect, preserve and conserve the tangible heritage of Assam. This heritage includes all the material remains such as archaeological sites, historical monuments, artefacts and objects that are significant to a community humans such as xatras, monasteries, stupas, namghars, mosques, dargahs or churches which have been in existence of not less than 75 years and have historical, aesthetic or architectural value that are not covered by the Assam Ancient Monuments and records Act, 1959. This Act has been passed at a time when most of the historic relics and monuments are facing serious threats of factors like unabated construction, encroachment and negligence around these sites.

In order to conserve the relics and monuments it has become necessary to work in a scientific manner so that these sites can become important centres of tourist attraction. In this Act under section 5 an Advisory committee would be constituted to be chaired by the Minister of Cultural Affairs with the Chief Secretary as the Vice Chairman. One important clause of the Act empowers the Deputy Commissioners of districts to identify any historical relics, artefacts or sites for conservation or that needs restoration with assistance of the officials of Archaeological Survey and Museums. The District Heritage Committee can submit such proposals to the government that can be enlisted as 'tangible heritage'.

One of the most significant historical sites of Assam is the Charaideo maidams that preserve typically mummified mortal remains of the Ahom royalty and nobility. These maidams covering an approximate area of 578 bighas are facing encroachment. Charaideo was the first capital set up by the founder of the Ahom dynasty Chaolung Sukafa. The burial grounds are located about 60 km from Sivsagar town. The tomb vaults resemble that of the Pyramids of Egypt. These maidams need scientific conservation for saving the same for posterity. In view of growing threats of encroachment the Directorate of Land Records carried out an extensive survey around the protected area encompassing the maidams. If the demarcation is carried out and the Management Plan is prepared the Cultural Affairs department can submit proposal to the World Heritage Committee (WHC) for making it a "World Heritage Site" (WHS) to be maintained by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Various other maidams located across Assam in places like Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Sivsagar are also in need of protection and conservation.

The UNESCO designates the World Heritage sites through 'The World Heritage Committee' that meets every year to announce and add sites in their list. Some of the important WHS of India are Taj Mahal in Agra, Ancient Nalanda University site in Bihar, Rani Ki Vav in Gujarat, Kaziranga National Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary. In total 38 WHS are enlisted from India so far. Currently there are 1,052 sites listed in the WHS list. Dossiers for Majuli River Islands were prepared but unfortunately were not submitted in a proper way to the satisfaction of the WHC. Now dossiers are being prepared for Charaideo maidams as well.

The guidelines published by UNESCO are very strict and proposals to be prepared should include the Management Plans for acceptance by the WHC. Any addition into the WHS list directly signifies the historical importance of the place and likely increase in the tourist inflow to those sites. European countries have the largest number of World Heritage Sites as they understood the importance of preservation and conservation of heritage sites. As a part of the economic plan and sustainable development of the WHS, it is necessary to follow the 5 Cs for heritage conservation. They are credibility, conservation, capacity building, communications and community participation.

Movable heritage include various antiquities like coins and manuscripts or sanchipaats. The sanchipaats written in bark of tress by the great Vaishnava scholars are treasure troves of Assamese literature. One significant aspect of preservation is the ancient Sanchipaat in Assam written primarily in the bark of trees. Many of the manuscripts have been preserved in the xatras of Assam that were written by the great Vaishnava scholars. Digitization of such manuscripts under the National Manuscript Mission is an important step taken by the State government. Recently some manuscripts relating to ancient tantra-mantras or magical practices and traditional medicines for which Mayong was once famous for has successfully completed a project of restoration, conservation, digitization of 250 valuable manuscripts in the Museum and Research Centre in Mayong in Morigaon district. The Project has been conducted by INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage), Assam Chapter sponsored by Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Germany.

Presently the Directorate of Archaeology under the Department of Cultural Affairs is carrying out restoration works in 115 protected sites and monuments in the state in a phased manner. The ASI has already developed 24 parks and museum sites to preserve the artefacts as well as to promote tourism. The department has registered 9,522 antiquities throughout the state as per the Antiquities and Art Treasuries Act, 1972. The Culture Department has listed 862 numbers of xatras out of which 219 xatras have been given financial assistance as grants-in-Aid for protection, preservation and development of the institutions.

The Act has accepted that the protected area should have a radius of 50 metre. The perimeter should have been increased up to 200 metres as most of the protected monuments of India has the average radius of 200 metres as per the Central government protection Acts. The District Libraries and Museum can be developed as Resource Centre for such documentation for historical relics and documents found in the district. The digital formatting of the Revenue records is essential to stop the growing. The digital maps can be designed showing the revenue details. Conservation and preservation technology has improved in recent times including use of space and satellite technology to identify the lost sites by laser technology. The lost Inca ruins in South America were identified through this technology. We have used such latest techniques to identify such lost sites.

Despite then rich legacy of historical heritage, most of the vestiges of history are lost in time due to negligence. The subject of history is being relegated to the background as the younger generations are deprived from the valuable lessons of their past or the legacy that the state or the country has inherited. Many of the historic garhs or ramparts built by the Ahoms and Koches as defensive walls against the invaders have been destroyed either by encroachment or by earth cutting. The historic tanks or sagars or pukhuris constructed by the Ahom swargadeos are gradually facing extinction due to non-conservation. Unless all these important historical sites are enlisted through Acts and Rules we will lose most of valuable treasures of our historical legacy.