Editorial

From the Editor’s Desktop Journal of Heritage Management

3(1) vii–ix
© 2018 The Centre for Heritage
Management, Ahmedabad University
and SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2455929618784093
http://journals.sagepub.com/home/hmj

Rima Hooja

We enter the third year of our journal’s life with yet another mixed bouquet of presentations on heritage
management. We also do so with the confidence that while our initial steps may sometimes have been
cautious, they were not hesitant, and that our content has been relevant.
In the current issue, the first article is Aruna Bagchee’s ‘Vernacular Architecture of Handloom Sari
Weavers in India: A Case for Conservation of Traditional Houses and Settlements of Handloom Weavers’
Clusters’. India’s Tentative List (TL) for World Heritage Sites (WHS), revised in 2014, includes ‘Iconic
Sari Weaving Clusters’ and is intended to cover aspects like the tangible heritage of weavers’ homes in
identified clusters around historical towns such as Chanderi, Varanasi, Paithan and others. Bagchee has
looked at the handloom tradition of India, with particular reference to the built heritage of the small
weaving clusters in the town of Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh, and calls for concerted action in conserving
the tangible heritage of sari weaving clusters in India.
Highlighting the dilapidated condition of weavers’ homes, and the worsening state of civic amenities
impacting their clusters, Bagchee discusses the interconnectedness between weavers’ tangible heritage
(their homes, cluster settlements, materials) and their intangible heritage (relations of production, modes
of intergenerational transmission of knowledge and skills and inspiration). Vernacular architecture is
often considered rudimentary and limited in its vocabulary, but as Bagchee argues, such weavers’ clusters
provide an amazing story of meeting the challenges of climate and the requisites of weaving, including
in the transmission of traditional knowledge systems. Discussing the linkages between weaving and its
particular requisites in shaping such vernacular architecture, she calls for a sensitive conservation effort
in order to protect, revive and appreciate India’s traditional handloom industry, and bring it back to
health and sustainable growth.
The issue of sustainability and heritage stays with us as we move to the Kachchh part of Gujarat for
our second article. Anshika Jain looks at the ‘Sheep Wool Craft Value Chain in Kachchh: Understanding
It Through the Viewpoint of Different Actors in the Chain’. Sheep have been traditionally kept for their
wool, which has been used in many different local crafts. Apart from being a major cultural asset, crafts
are sensitive to external and internal factors, and the many changes that have taken place in Kachchh
have impacted local crafts. Jain attempts to understand such changes and their effects through her field
research on value chain and life cycles of the groups involved—namely, the shepherds (known as
Maldhari), shearers, spinners and craftspeople, including weavers, dyers and felt-makers.
Acknowledging that heritage resources offer unique benefits to local communities, Jain notes that
heritage industries cannot be shifted easily, are often labour-intensive in nature, provide employment
opportunities without a need for migration and may support small businesses with low capital investment.
viii Editorial

As a result, there may be greater long-term economic security, sustainable development and inclusive
growth. Heritage-related industries also support the livelihoods of a wider network of people who are
indirectly involved in it, resulting in benefit to people with different skills. There are many stakeholders
involved and many factors which come into play—including the human development impact of identity
affirmation and community awareness.
The third article, ‘Tracing the Impact of Krishnalila Narratives on Bengal Temple Architecture:
A Study of Terracotta Temples of Baranagar’ is by Bikas Karmakar and Ila Gupta. They look at the
eighteenth-century Baranagar temples of Murshidabad, West Bengal—locally famous as the Rani
Bhavani group of temples, after the benefactor patron–saint–queen Rani Bhavani—in the light of the
Bengal tradition of Krishnalila narratives. These narratives majorly influenced regional temple
architecture during the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century. Although the influence of Krishna
worship decreased in Bengal towards the middle of the eighteenth century, the presence of many plaques
portraying the Krishna story on the walls of the Baranagar and other temples made during that period
emphasize the continued strong hold of the Krishna cult in the area then and later. Their article also looks
at changes in narratives and iconography of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Bengal temples due to
a greater or lesser impact of the Krishna cult. They conclude that narratives of many deities got equal
importance, with Shiva remaining the presiding deity of the temples, and that the Krishnalila narratives
retained a strong hold, reflecting the accommodative nature of the patron.
The fourth article in this issue sees A. Vinodan and S. Meera looking at Kerala’s martial arts form of
Kalaripayattu. Owing to the close links between Kalaripayattu martial art and the dance forms of Kerala
such as Theyyam and Kathakali, Kalaripayattu is an integral part of the cultural heritage. It has influenced
many similar martial arts forms, especially across Southeast Asia, and is viewed as a manifestation of the
culture and history of Kerala. In their article, ‘Exploring the Relevance of Cultural Resource Management:
A Case Study of Kalaripayattu’, Vinodan and Meera investigate the potential of cultural heritage
resources from a supply and demand perspective, and suggest that cultural heritage resources like
Kalaripayattu could become a unique selling proposition of Indian tourism market, provided these
resources are protected, preserved and encouraged through effective cultural resources management and
through evolving sensitive strategies to gain target markets.
Our fifth presentation is a joint article by Purva Shah, Ali Kaderi, Nandan Malani and Amol
Suryavanshi on ‘Reclaiming Glory of Shehr-i-Khas, Srinagar: Revitalization of Ali Kadal-Maharaj
Ganj Area’. Srinagar benefited from its location on the trade-route network, and very early the old core
of the city—the Shehr-i-Khas—developed into a thriving centre along the banks of the river Jhelum.
A network of navigable waterways, narrow cart streets and bridges together define the spatial organization
of Shehr-i-Khas, with the river forming the central spine around which the city grew. The old Ali Kadal-
Maharaj Ganj area of this Sher-i-Khas has many heritage structures and shrines, several of them dating
back to the fourteenth century, and the area has the potential for becoming a key attraction for tourists.
However, while the historic urban structure of the city still remains, it lacks its former energetic pulsating
character. Shah, Kaderi, Malani and Suryavanshi suggest and explore various design interventions that
can revitalize the one-time vibrancy of the area, especially through urban life revolving around tourism,
promotion of local arts and crafts and heritage.
In the next presentation, Balaji Venkatachary and Vishakha Kawathekar provide an explorative study
intended to look at cultural landscapes in a holistic manner and examine whether there is significant
observable relationship between music and spatial expressions in cultural landscapes. Their article is
titled ‘Understanding the Relationship Between Component and Attribute of Cultural Landscapes: Case
of Indian Music and Cultural Landscapes’. As they note, the concept of cultural landscapes expands the
Editorial ix

definition of architecture to incorporate built and non-built components, and intangible elements, and
accepts the role of both natural and human forces in shaping and sustaining landscape. The UNESCO
World Heritage Committee works with three major categories of cultural landscapes, namely, landscape
designed and intentionally shaped by human actions, organically evolved landscape and associative
cultural landscapes. The role of intangible attributes in shaping and managing a cultural landscape site
has been a challenge to academics and practitioners alike, but the authors have worked with case studies
based around cultural geography, mapping of cultural landscapes and associational musical traditions, to
seek spatial indicators that Indian music seems to exhibit.
In the final part of this issue, we are once again presenting our book review section. This time, it is
a review of Susan Verma Mishra and Himanshu Prabha Ray’s The Archaeology of Sacred Spaces:
The Temple in Western India, 2nd Century BCE–8th Century CE. The book has been reviewed by Ashish
Kumar. Book reviews will continue to remain a vital feature of this journal, and we invite the same.
Meanwhile, even as you read this, we are working on the next two issues, due in December 2018 and
thereafter in June 2019. Contributions for future issues are, as always, welcome, and guidelines for
contributors are available in this issue and online.

Editor