Exploring the notions of heritage in India from the perspective of Hinduism
Palabras clave:
Heritage, tradition, landscape, conservation, continuity, tangible, intangible, traditional knowledge.Resumen
The paper reflects on the notions of heritage based on the philosophical traditions rooted in Hinduism, the predominant religion in India. Heritage (Virasat) is considered separate from tradition (Parampara). The paper deliberates on the spatial, temporal, and experiential notions of heritage. While the space is manifested through symbolic representations on macro and micro levels, tangible heritage gets created and recreated through cyclic notions of time, giving the process a much broader cultural significance than the product. The experiential dimension contributes towards linking the tangible and the intangible in various modes of comprehension, and thus materiality has much lesser significance than the spirituality of heritage. This understanding also has an implication for the traditional approach to heritage conservation that emphasizes all the rituals attached to the regeneration of a particular heritage in contrast to merely preserving the ‘dead’ ruins. The paper further dwells into the main challenges confronting this heritage when seen in a static manner and with a growing disconnect between the tangible and the intangible. The failure of the ‘Western’ conservation approaches with a focus on material preservation has therefore made us reflect on the living heritage approach for conservation that advocates enabling continuity and evolution and controlling change to protect the essence of heritage that is deeply connected to the self.
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