CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VI (1) Contemporary-Eurasia-VI-1-engl | Page 59

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VI (1)
SUBRAMANIAN KRISHNAN MANI
THE MONUMENTS HERITAGE: THE INDIVIDUAL’S ROLE
AND RESPONSIBILITY IN PRESERVING
Abstract
Protecting the built heritage and conserving the local traditional and
cultural values of communities for future generations present a real
challenge for developers, architects, and professional education programs
which are responsible for preparing the courses focused on heritage
conservation aspects, learning respectful aware design with cultural
context, and qualified graduates in planning, design, and implementation
of conservation projects.
These monuments, in a way bring to the forefront, the elegance and
splendour of the bygone era. We can get a glimpse of the world’s past
through these monuments. With their elaborate superfluities and
wonderful architecture, Indian monuments represent one of the most
outstanding facets of the multi-faceted Indian culture. The monuments of
India must become an inspiration for the future generations.
The paper looks into the historical aspects of the preservation of
monuments, fate of the unprotected monuments, and responsibility of the
society/individuals.
Keywords: Heritage, preservation, protection, monuments, UNESCO,
legislation, cultural property
Introduction
As I walked to the India Gate……. and gradually the long walls of
the monument came into view. Nothing I had heard of or written had
prepared me for the moment. I could not speak. I looked on and
wondered. There are the names. The names! . . . For twenty years, I
have contended that these men died in a cause as noble as any cause
for which a war was ever fought. Others have contended, and will
always contend, that these dead were uselessly sacrificed in a no-win
war that should never have been waged at all. Never mind. . . .
India Gate is a memorial to 82,000 soldiers of the undivided Indian
Army who died in the period 1914–21 in the First World War, in
France, Flanders, Mesopotamia, Persia, East
Africa, Gallipoli and
elsewhere in the Near and the Far East, and the Third Anglo-Afghan
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