CONSERVATION

1. Full Forms:

WMF - World Monuments Fund

ICCROM - International Centre for the Conservation and Restoration of
Monuments
INTACH - Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage
DOCOMOMO - International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of
building, sites and neighbourhoods of the Modern Monument.
ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
ASI - Archaeological Survey of India
UNESCO - United Nations of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
DRONAH - Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts and Heritage
CPWD - Central Public Works Department
SDA - State Development Authority
IHCN - Indian Heritage Cities Network

2. List down causes of decay for heritage structures and explain any two with its
preventive measures.

The causes of decay for heritage structures are as follows-

Natural Factors:
 Flood
Floods can cause massive damage where heritage buildings are being
destroyed by nature’s water pressure. Though some heritage buildings might
dry out, yet the moisture remaining within the floors, walls and roof may
cause serious mold problems that will eventually wear the building away and
create health dangers.

 Biological Factors
Biological agencies such as mosses, fungus, algae, and insects affect
construction materials like timber, bricks, stucco etc. Wet timber
decomposes in damp condition, and once germination occurred it enters
cracks and spreads fast making the timber to loose cellulose, thereby loosing
its strength and shape which results in cracks, shrinkages and loose fitting.
 Moisture
It can be in solid, liquid or vapour form and it is always present in the
atmosphere. When the surface temperature falls, condensation occurs and
this can cause severe damages to heritage buildings. Water frozen in the
pores of building materials like timber, concrete and bricks can cause spalling
of surface, cracking or even disintegration.

 Rainstorm
 Ground salts and water
 Windstorm
Wind primarily causes loading and mechanical damage to structures and
materials. Windstorm damaged roofs was quiet often recorded in the past at
is still as a major threat to historical structures. Most of the damage caused
by the strong winds concerned the roof covering.

 Air Pollutant
One of the more destructive forms of pollution is acid rain. When acid rain
falls on historical monuments of limestone or marble, a chemical reaction
takes place which has a corrosive effect on these structures. The reaction
dissolves the material, leading to permanent damage.

 Solar Radiation
Objects heat up causing their materials to expand and contract, often at
different rates to each other. The differential movement can lead to stress
resulting in damage to the structure of rigid materials. They can also dry out,
again causing differential movement as well as cracking and crazing of some
surfaces.

 Temperature
Changes of the temperature are also relevant when assessing the
consequences of thermal expansion and contraction – such as stresses within
materials when changes of size are restrained and strains imposed on
jointing materials when components are free to change size.

 Vibration
 Social Factors:
 Fire
Uncontrolled fire can cause an entire destruction of heritage buildings and its
contents in only a few hours and its major effect is the potential loss of
authenticity. Although the destroyed parts of the buildings can be replicated,
the loss of the original historic fabric takes away from the building the
cultural significance which makes it unique and important.

 Urban Development
Large urban scale development has continued to threaten the existence of
heritage buildings in the region for a long time. Many heritage buildings are
being demolished to pave way for the construction of wider roads, schools,
hospitals, shopping malls and parking.

 Vandalism
It is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, in respect of culture:
ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable. The term
also includes criminal damage such as graffiti and defacement directed
towards any property without permission of the owner.

3. Define the following:

Conservation area/Protected area - A conservation area is a place, area, group of
structures or townscape that is of special architectural, historical, archaeological,
technical, social, cultural or scientific interest, or that contributes to the appreciation of
a protected structure.
Heritage - Heritage can be defines as buildings or ruins, whether single or set of
constructions, whose original value in terms of emotional, cultural, physical, intangible,
technical or historical has been increased over the years.
Integrity - Integrity means the architectural elements, materials, color, and quality of
the original building construction. Architectural integrity of the structure must be
preserved, and the proposed use must be in harmony with surrounding uses.
Tangible heritage - Tangible heritage refers to all the material traces such as
archaeological sites, historical monuments, artifacts, and objects that are significant to
a community, a nation, or/and humanity.
Authenticity - Authenticity of an architectural design means truthfulness to a site’s
surrounding context, people, and culture.
Repair - It is defined as the process of restoration of a broken, damaged, or failed
property to an acceptable operating or usable condition or state.
Intervention - Intervention means honoring the historic significance of deteriorating
buildings while reinventing them for modern contexts and usage.
Restoration - Restoration is defined as the act or process of accurately depicting the
form, features, and character of a property as it appeared at a particular period of time
by means of the removal of features from the other periods in its history and
reconstruction of missing features from the restoration period.
Reconstruction - Reconstruction is defined as the act or process of depicting, by means
of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-surviving site, landscape,
building, structure, or object for the purpose of replicating its appearance at a specific
period of time and in its historic location.
Preservation - Preservation is defined as the act or process of applying measures
necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of an historic property.
Retrofit - It is the process of modifying something after it has been constructed. It
involves changing its systems or structure after its initial construction and occupation.
Reuse - It refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than
which it was built or designed for. It is also a key factor in land conservation and the
reduction of urban sprawl.
Rehabilitation - It is defined as the act or process of making possible a compatible use
for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while preserving those portions
or features which convey its historical, cultural or architectural values.
Maintenance – It is defined as routine work necessary to keep the fabric of a place in
good order. The main objective is to limit deterioration. It forms a cornerstone of
building conservation.
Condition assessment – It bridges the gap between site investigation and analysis. It is
as much a part of the process of investigation as the analysis itself. The condition
assessment is the act that carefully analyzes a place, structure, or feature in order to
register and understand the relationships between and degrees of severity of the
different deterioration mechanisms.
Conservation management plan – It is a document that helps develop the management
strategy for historic assets, sites and places. It explains the significance of the asset and
examines how any future use, management, alteration or repair will be carried out in
order to retain the significance. It informs the way an asset is conserved and managed,
by establishing why the asset matters and what matters about.

4. Define conservation and state two objectives of conservation.

 Conservation means all the processes of looking after a place so as to retain its
historical and/or architectural and/or aesthetic and/or cultural significance and
includes maintenance, preservation, restoration, reconstruction and adoption or a
combination of more than one of these.
Objectives of conservation –
 Retain visual identity: The objective must be to integrate unprotected
heritage and sites into daily social life by balancing their needs so that
neither overshadows the other.
 Adaptive re-use: The re-use of historic buildings and neighborhoods is
economically sensible. It is an effective strategy to conserve architectural
heritage, particularly by using traditional craftspeople in the process.
 Restoration/ Replication/ Rebuilding: Restoration is an appropriate
conservation strategy to reinstate the integrity or complete the fractured
‘whole’ of the architectural heritage/ site.
 Employment generation: Conservation strategy must focus on the potential
for employing local mistris, labour and materials because this will prolong the
economic viability of traditional ways of buildings.
 Local material and traditional technology: The use of local materials and
traditional technologies must invariably be preferred. Their choice must be
based on the availability of traditional knowledge systems.

5. Explain the process of conservation of a historic property.

The process of conservation of a historic property is as follows:
 Sensitive assessment of its history and merits- reconnaissance survey;
 Gathering information of the whole life of a building for an essential
understanding of its features and its problems;
 Thorough measured survey with proper instruments- Modern measuring
techniques, such as photogrammetry is used today to increase accuracy;
 After the measurements are complete- an analysis of the structural stability
of the building and its usage pattern; note to be made for its structural
movement if any, of soil and wind effects etc.;
 The architect or surveyor tests the electrical connections, plumbing, and
other utilities present in the building. Lightening conductors and fire-fighting
equipment are checked to make sure they can provide sufficient protection;
 At the end of this assessment process, the conservator will analyze all the
collected data and decide on a conservation plan based on available funding
sources.
6. What is ASI? Explain its role and significance and describe an ASI protected site.

The Archaeological Survey of India, established in 1861 is an attached office under

the Ministry of Culture dedicated to the protection, preservation and conservation
of the national monuments.
It is a multidisciplinary organization including exploration and excavation, chemical
conservation, Horticultural operation, Museum, underwater archaeology, Pre-
History Branch, Epigraphy, Publication etc.

The functions of Archaeological Survey of India are:

 It conducts archeological exploration and excavation regularly

 It also keeps developing epigraphical research, setting up and reorganization of
site museums and training in archaeology
 Development of cultural and eco-tourism integrating with the monuments
 Preservation, conservation and environmental development of centrally
protected monuments and sites, including World Heritage Monuments and
antiquities
 Conducting Research and Training in different areas of Archaeology
 Maintenance of gardens & development of new gardens surrounding centrally
protected monuments and sites
 Implementation of the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972)
 Regulate all archaeological activities in the country as per the provisions of the
Ancient.

Significance of Archaeological Survey of India lies in the fact that its primary
objective is to locate, preserve, conserve and study the archaeological remains in
the country.

7. Which are the organizations involved in conservation in India? Explain role of any
1.

The organizations involved are:

 WMF - World Monuments Fund
 ICCROM - International Centre for the Conservation and Restoration of
Monuments
 INTACH - Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage
 DOCOMOMO - International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of
building, sites and neighbourhoods of the Modern Monument.
  ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
 ASI - Archaeological Survey of India
 UNESCO - United Nations of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
 DRONAH - Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts and
Heritage
 CPWD - Central Public Works Department
 SDA - State Development Authority
 IHCN - Indian Heritage Cities Network
 IUCN - International Union for Conservation of /nature and Natural Resources
 ICAHM - International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management
 OWHC - Organisation of World Heritage Cities
 WHC - World Monument Fund
 NMMA - National Mission on Monuments and Antiquity
 SPAB - Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

8. List the values of conservation. Explain any 1 with example.

Values of conservation are:

Emotional:
 Symbolic
 Wonder
 Spiritual
 Continuity
 Identity

Use value:
 Social
 Political
 Functional
 Economic

Cultural:
 Archaeological Antique
 Aesthetic & Symbolic
 Architectural
  Townscape/ Landscape/ Ecological
 Scientific & technological
 Documentary
 Historic

9. Explain significance of conservation. Explain with an example.

 Majority of India’s architectural heritage and built sites are unprotected but
they still constitute and define a unique legacy- its national heritage or
culture;
 This cultural heritage is not legally protected. The buildings and sites which
constitute it are subject to demolition or unsympathetic interventions.
Conserving heritage, therefore, offers the potential to conserve both
traditional buildings and traditional ways of building.
 Conserving the unprotected architectural heritage and sites ensures the
survival of the country’s sense of place and its very character in a globalizing
environment. It offers the opportunity not only to continually appreciate the
past, but also to define the future.
 It provides alternate avenues for employment and a parallel market for local
building materials and technologies.
 This ‘living’ heritage also has symbiotic relationships with the natural
environments within which it originally evolved.

10. World Heritage Sites and their selection criteria. Give one example of the same in
India.

 to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

 to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a
cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental
arts, town-planning or landscape design;
 to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a
civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
 to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological
ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
 to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use
which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the
environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible
change;
 to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with
beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The
Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with
other criteria);
 to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and
aesthetic importance;
 to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the
record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of
landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;
 to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological
processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and
marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;
 to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of
biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding
universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

11. List down the degrees of interventions in its ascending order, and define any one.

 Prevention – Protecting cultural property by controlling its environment thus

preventing agents of decay and damage from becoming active.
 Preservation – places a high premium on the retention of all historic fabric
through conservation, maintenance and repair. It reflects a building’s
continuum over time, through successive occupancies, and the respectful
changes and alterations that are made.
 Consolidation – Physical addition or application into actual fabric to ensure
continued durability or structural integrity.
 Restoration – focuses on the retention of materials from the most significant
time in a property’s history, while permitting the removal of materials from
other periods.
 Rehabilitation – emphasizes the retention and repair of historic materials,
but more latitude is provided for replacement because it is assumed the
property is more deteriorated prior to work.
 Reproduction – copying an artefact in order to replace some missing or
decayed parts, generally decorative to maintain aesthetic harmony.
 Reconstruction – establishes limited opportunities to re-create a non-
surviving site, landscape, building, structure or object in all new materials.

12. What are the ethics in conservation?

  Authenticity – Conservation should faithfully reflect the significant values
which define the heritage. It should be genuine, close to reality.
 Conjecture – An exact replacement, restoration or rebuilding must be valued
when it ensures continuity of traditional building practices even during lack
of evidence.
 Integrity – The integrity of the heritage is to be defined and interpreted not
only in terms of the physical fabric of the building, but also with respect to
the collective knowledge systems and cultural landscape it represents.
 Minimal intervention – Conservation may include additions and alterations
of the physical fabric, in part or whole, in order to reinstate the meaning and
coherence of the unprotected architectural heritage and site. In the first
instance, however, conservation should attempt minimal intervention.
 Demolish/ Rebuild – If local conditions are such that all strategies to
conserve the unprotected architectural heritage and site are found to be
inadequate, then the option of replacing it should be examined.

13. What is cultural landscape? Describe any one site in detail.

 Cultural landscapes can range from thousands of acres of rural tracts of land to a small
homestead with a front yard of less than one acre. Like historic buildings and districts,
these special places reveal aspects of our country's origins and development through
their form and features and the ways they were used. Cultural landscapes also reveal
much about our evolving relationship with the natural world.

 A cultural landscape is defined as "a geographic area, including both cultural and natural
resources and the wildlife or domestic animals therein, associated with a historic event,
activity, or person or exhibiting other cultural or aesthetic values." There are four
general types of cultural landscapes, not mutually exclusive: historic sites, historic
designed landscapes, historic vernacular landscapes, and ethnographic landscapes.

 Historic landscapes include residential gardens and community parks, scenic highways,
rural communities, institutional grounds, cemeteries, battlefields and zoological
gardens. They are composed of a number of character-defining features which,
individually or collectively contribute to the landscape's physical appearance as they
have evolved over time.
 In addition to vegetation and topography, cultural landscapes may include water
features, such as ponds, streams, and fountains; circulation features, such as roads,
paths, steps, and walls; buildings; and furnishings, including fences, benches, lights and
sculptural objects.
 Nearly all designed and vernacular landscapes evolve from, or are often dependent on,
natural resources. It is these interconnected systems of land, air and water, vegetation
 and wildlife which have dynamic qualities that differentiate cultural landscapes from
other cultural resources, such as historic structures.

Cultural landscapes fall into four categories:

 Historic Designed Landscape— a landscape that was consciously designed or laid out by
a landscape architect, master gardener, architect, or horticulturist according to design
principles, or an amateur gardener working in a recognized style or tradition. The
landscape may be associated with a significant person(s), trend, or event in landscape
architecture; or illustrate an important development in the theory and practice of
landscape architecture. Aesthetic values play a significant role in designed landscapes.
Examples include parks, campuses, and estates.
 Historic Vernacular Landscape— a landscape that evolved through use by the people
whose activities or occupancy shaped that landscape. Through social or cultural
attitudes of an individual, family or a community, the landscape reflects the physical,
biological, and cultural character of those everyday lives. Function plays a significant
role in vernacular landscapes. They can be a single property such as a farm or a
collection of properties such as a district of historic farms along a river valley. Examples
include rural villages, industrial complexes, and agricultural landscapes.
 Historic Site— a landscape significant for its association with a historic event, activity, or
person. Examples include battlefields and president's house properties.
 Ethnographic Landscape— a landscape containing a variety of natural and cultural
resources that associated people defines as heritage resources. Examples are
contemporary settlements, religious sacred sites and massive geological structures.
Small plant communities, animals, subsistence and ceremonial grounds are often
components.

14. What is urban conservation? Discuss any one project in detail.

Urban conservation is concerned with those parts of the built environment that are
of architectural or historic significance. This includes buildings (individually or in
groups), localities (streets, blocks, environments or precincts), special gardens or
landscapes, and other structures.

The optimum benefits of urban conservation can be considered in these following

aspects:
Culture – Heritage:
 Cultural endowments such as traditional architecture, unique streetscapes,
and historic sites are increasingly recognized as important economic
resources in both developed and developing countries.
 Improving the conservation and management of urban heritage is not only
important for preserving its historical significance, but also for its potential to
increase income – earning opportunities, city livability, and competitiveness.
  Heritage conservation has increased city livability by preserving streets and
neighborhoods built at a human scale, public areas that support positive
community interaction and green spaces that offer recreational activities. By
preserving their heritage, cities can create a unique sense of place and
singular urban landscapes, developing strong branding and conditions to
attract investors.
 In addition, improving a city’s self-image and identity through recognition of
heritage assets have been shown to increase civic pride and energize
communities to actively address a wide range of development and livelihood
issues.

Economy:
 One of the most highly-visible and dynamic links between heritage
conservation and local economic development lies in the potential for
cultural and natural assets to attract tourism investment and
spending.
 The investments in heritage conservation that are advantageous for
tourism development are also key elements of creating livable cities
in other words, improvements that support tourism also enhance
residents’ economic opportunities and standard of living.

NIZAMUDDIN BASTI, DELHI

 Located in the heart of New Delhi, adjacent to Humayun’s Tomb complex and Sunder
Nursery, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti is named after the revered saint Hazrat Nizamuddin
Auliya, who lived here in the early fourteenth century.
 A synergistic, community centred and collaborative approach has been adopted to
improve the quality of life for residents through a series of multi-input projects that
aims to improve the urban environment, conserve monuments, develop public parks,
strengthen basic services through interventions in the three core areas of health,
education and environmental sanitation and engage community participation through a
regular series of cultural activities and performances.
 In so doing, the project seeks to integrate conservation, socio-economic development
and urban and environmental development objectives in consultation with local
communities and relevant stakeholders.
 In 2009 a physical mapping/survey of the Basti was undertaken to document the area
with the intention of planning sensitive urban improvements. The survey has led to the
preparation of street improvement plans which will be implemented by the Municipal
Corporation of Delhi.
 Small public parks are being planned along the western edge of the Basti in areas that
are deteriorating and are no longer safe and clean. These spaces will be landscaped to
fulfil the needs expressed by the resident community.
 These parks will bring much needed community space and nodes of civic life back to the
area and improve pedestrian circulation through the Basti, and there will be parks
earmarked for women, children, cricket, community functions and weddings.
 The conservation of monuments and the rehabilitation of open spaces in the Basti aim
to restore their intrinsic cultural, historical and spiritual significance.
 At the eastern edge of the Basti stand two important tombs: the Chaunsath Khamba, a
Mughal tomb, and the tomb of Mirza Ghalib, South Asia’s most renowned poet.
Together, they form one of the largest open spaces in the Basti. Landscape works at
both tombs have enhanced the historic character, restored dignity to these monuments
and provided much needed community gathering spaces in this dense setting.

15. What are world Heritage Sites and their types? How many such sites are present in
India? Give one example of a World Heritage Site in India and write about the
criteria on which it was listed.

A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area which is chosen by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having cultural,
historical, scientific or other form of significance, and is legally protected by
international treaties. The sites are judged important to the collective interests of
humanity.
To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be an already-classified landmark, unique
in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special
cultural or physical significance (such as an ancient ruin or historical structure,
building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, mountain, or
wilderness area). It may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and
serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet.

List of World Heritage Sites in India:

 Ajanta caves
 Ellora caves
 Agra fort
 Taj Mahal
 Sun Temple, Konark
 Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram
 Kaziranga National Park
 Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
 Keoladeo National Park
 Churches and Convents of Goa
 Khajuraho Group of Monuments
 Group of Monuments at Hampi
 Fatehpur Sikri
 Group of Monuments at Pattadakal
 Elephanta caves
 Great Living Chola Temples
 Sundarban National Park
 Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks
 Buddhist’s Monuments at Sanchi
 Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi
 Qutub Minar and its Monuments, Delhi
 Mountain Railways of India
 Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya
 Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka
 Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus)
 Champaner - Pavagadh Archaeological Park
 Red Fort Complex
 The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur
 Western Ghats
 Hill Forts of Rajasthan
 Rani ki Vav
 Great Himalayan National Park
 Archaeological Sites of Nalanda Mahavihara at Nalanda, Bihar
 Khangchenzonga National Park
 The Architecture Work of Le Corbusier
 Historic City of Ahmedabad
 The Victorian and Art deco Ensemble of Mumbai
 Jaipur
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka:
 Bhimbetka is a UNSECO acknowledged World Heritage Site. It has earned that title by
being home a set of extraordinary cave paintings made by Man in prehistoric times.
These paintings are made on some unusually shaped rock formations that gave Man a
magnificent canvas to express his creativity on.
 Viewed from a distance, these rock formations resemble a small fortress, rising nearly
100 metres above the surrounding area on the hill upon which they stand.
 They are the result of intense chemical and physical weathering by natural elements
over centuries which has resulted in giving the rocks the strangest shapes imaginable.
 While the caves and potholes within the rocks became a place for Man to shelter within,
the flat surfaces of these rock formations became the easel for his creative inclinations.
 The one feature which makes Bhimbetka a most unusual archeological site is that the
paintings here constitute a repository of knowledge of how Man lived in a truly ancient
era. And the repository has been a dynamic one since the paintings here are not from
one period in history but were done over a period of thousands of years, capturing the
changing environment Man discovered and created for himself.
 Most paintings here depict hunting scenes focusing on a variety of animals such as
tigers, leopards, boars, elephants, horses, jackals, foxes etc showing them running,
standing or grazing while Man is shown as the hunter, always armed and trapping
animals. Humans, drawn in profile, are usually stick shaped while the animals are
depicted in their natural form.
 As time went on, religious symbols also became subjects of paintings. As man began to
master the environment around him, he was depicted as climbing trees, riding on the
back of elephants or horses and even dancing as part of a group. Later paintings
depicted him riding chariots. Man, it seems, documented his own evolution here.
 It forms the southern rim of an almost continuous belt of painted shelters that runs for
nearly fifty kilometers till the edge of Bhopal, concluding in more painted rock shelters
hidden in the folds of a high hill called Manua-bhan-ki-tekri.

16. What is heritage structure/building?

Heritage building means and includes any building of one or more premises or any
part thereof or structure or artifact which requires conservation and preservation for
historical, architectural, artisanary , aesthetic, cultural, environmental, and
ecological purpose and includes such portion of land adjoining such building or part
thereof as may be required for fencing or covering or in any manner preserving the
historical, architectural, aesthetic and cultural value of such building.
17. What is listing of heritage property? Explain the methodology of listing.

Heritage Listings are documentation of assets that can have cultural or historical
value. Such listings are predominantly buildings, or groups of buildings, but can also
include other heritage assets as well. There are a number of such lists, created both
by national governments, agencies or by private organizations. Many countries have
laws and formalized systems for heritage listings.

The three key concepts need to be understood to determine whether a property is

worthy of listing.

• Historic significance

• Historic integrity

• Historic context

Historic significance is the importance of a property to the history, architecture,

archaeology, engineering or culture of a community, region or nation.

Historic integrity is the authenticity of a property's historic identity, evidenced by the

survival of physical characteristics that existed during the property's historic period.

Historic context is information about historic trends and properties grouped by an

important theme in the history of a community, region or nation during a particular
period of time. Knowledge of historic context enables listers to understand a historic
property as a product of its time.

Listing work comprises of two phases:

1. Background research

 Before commencing the actual fieldwork, the basic information is

gathered from various sources including gazetteers, travel books, and
several other specialized books on the history of the area to be listed.
 Many of the museums established by the central government or state
governments or even private museums can provide interesting
information. In a given area, local experts, professionals and scholars
could also provide the required guidance and help.
 This would ensure that no important structure or representative style of
building is left out. Background research essentially helps in identifying
historic areas, historic developments in the area, significance of the
events that may have taken place at different times, important persons
who may have shaped historical developments, cultural developments,
 and similar features that may be unique to the area. In some well
documented areas, distinctive physical characteristics of design,
construction, materials, and forms of buildings can also be identified.

2. Field work

 Before launching into field work, a reliable map of the area should be
collected and its various constituents.
 Field work requires lot of work to scan the heritage properties and recording
information for each property in the prescribed format. This comprises of
physically inspecting the property as well as meeting local people such as
owners of the property, talking to other residents and local ward or
panchayat members, and knowledgeable residents and representatives of
institutions.
 By physically inspecting the property the lister can gather facts such as
physical characteristics of the property, the date of construction, style of
construction, design characteristics, etc. that are relevant for recording in the
format prescribed for listing.
 By conducting a dialogue with the residents, one can determine the changes
to the property over time, ownership details, historic function and activities,
association with events and persons, and the role of the property in local,
regional or national history.
 Photography is an important component of the listing. A photograph freezes
the building and its setting to the time when it is taken. In this context, old
photographs, if available, can constitute a very important record in the
listing. A comparison would show the changes that have occurred over time
to the building and, in particular, to its embellishments.