Urban renewal of ancient India…..Isher Judge Ahluwalia
Other heritage cities have a lot to learn from Bhubaneswar’s Old Town Revitalisation Project
Other heritage cities have a lot to learn from Bhubaneswar’s Old Town Revitalisation Project
We Indians like to think we are proud of our spiritual, cultural and architectural heritage. But in the hurly-burly of haphazard development of our cities, we do little to preserve our heritage, let alone build on it. Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa, shows how we can do this.
Bhubaneswar is the second planned city of independent India after Chandigarh. Its total area of 135 sq km includes the 25 sq km or so of the Old Town which dates back more than a thousand years, with glorious temple structures that had dotted the area then, many of which are there today as well.
Until 2007, the Old Town of Bhubaneswar was no different from any of the other heritage cities of India, which are visited in hordes by pilgrims and tourists and which typically have congested roads, crowded market-places, polluted water-bodies for want of sewerage and adequate storm-water drains, and a profusion of undergrowth and mounds of solid waste in and around the historic structures. The shrines and temples are typically hidden behind the shoddy and unplanned construction which has come up over the years with little regard for design standards or harmony between the old and the new.
The Old Town Revitalisation Project of Bhubaneswar is changing all this and already making a difference. The project includes architectural restoration, environmental clean-up and city planning to open up the old temples for easier access and better appreciation of their splendour. It also revitalises the living culture of the Old Town for example, a medicinal plants garden on the west bank of Bindu Sagar and the Lingaraj Haat.
Bindu Sagar, a sacred water body that finds mention in the Puranas and other ancient texts, is a stones throw from the Lingaraj temple. It is said that when Bindu Sagar was formed, all the river goddesses were invited to bless it by pouring into it some drops of water from their rivers. This is also where Parvati is supposed to have herded cows and Shiva is supposed to have meditated under a mango tree as large as a forest.
As recently as 2008, Bindu Sagar was neither visually nor physically connected to the Lingaraj temple (except from some view-points along the main road), thanks to all the man-made obstructions. Of course, having lost its past glory and beauty, it was not much of a sight to want to look at. Its periphery was in an advanced state of disrepair with retaining walls that were crumbling. Its waters were sullied by leaking sewage, open defecation, ritual offerings by hundreds of pilgrims and chemicals from washing clothes.
Today, thanks to the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the first project to have been taken up under the Old Town Revitalisation Project was the Bindu Sagar Periphery Development project which includes a medicinal plant garden called Ekamravan on the west bank of Bindu Sagar. The project is being implemented by the Forest Department under the guidance of A HeritageLab, a heritage conservation firm. It provided design inputs and training and direction to the stone-workers.
The project has a strong component of capacity building following the successful experiment of training in lime plaster for local craftsmen in Raghurajpur in a pilot project. The Bindu Sagar periphery wall is being built by local sculptors who are being trained in the art of stone carving by the accomplished skilled craftsmen of the area. This not only creates a resource for the future conservation of heritage but it also visibly and positively impacts the lives of the rural craftsmen and their children, said Anupam Shah of A HeritageLab proudly.
Deriving inspiration from Ekamravan which has been described in ancient texts as the Rasalila Kshetra of Lord Shiva and Parvati, the garden has three impressive platforms (Pindis) made out of laterite and sandstone, for Shiva, Parvati and their son Ganesha, with a mango tree, an amla tree and a bel tree at the centre of each platform, respectively. The garden has more than 200 species of medicinal plants. The Ekamravan Medicinal Plant Garden Society maintains the garden, charging a nominal fee for entry. It also sells saplings of medicinal plants at its nursery.
The periphery wall made of finely chiselled laterite with intermittent carvings also adds to the heritage ambiance as it protects Bindu Sagar from the old habits of misuse. Sewerage and waste water from homes in the surrounding areas are being diverted away, washing of clothes and dishes in the lake is being dissuaded with alternative provisions made for such washing, and public toilets have been provided to check open defecation. However, the challenge of finding a sustainable solution to cleaning the waters of Bindu Sagar remains. A water purification project is being planned, and bringing fresh water in and the opening of an outlet are also in the offing.
With one-third of the periphery wall completed by the forest department, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has swung into action by taking up the remaining part of the wall. There is enough evidence of an environment transformed. The garden is being used by morning walkers and those seeking peace and quiet with an open view of the grand old temples.
To open up the visual and pedestrian connections between the Lingaraj temple and Bindu Sagar, I saw a pathway that passes between the Shankaranand Matha and the Gopalateertha Matha. Along the way, ritual platforms of Lord Lingaraj are being opened out for the public. Similarly, the Markandeshwar Temple has been opened up for viewing from Bindu Sagar after relocating a community kitchen with the consent of the local community. In the case of Ekamreshwar temple in front of the Lingaraj, the temple committee removed one of its own buildings in order to participate in this heritage revitalisation movement.
The chaotic market area around the Lingaraj temple has also seen a major transformation in step with a larger drive by the BMC to provide vendor space for hawkers and street sellers. The Lingaraj Haat is now set up daily on a newly constructed platform right next to the Lingaraj temple in a 30,000 sq ft area. The platform is nicely harmonised with its surroundings. On this open space, vendors bring their wares and take their allotted spaces to sell vegetables, fruit, other household items and puja samagri to make their living. Built in 2011 by the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation and maintained by the Lingaraj Temple Administration, the haat sustains livelihoods of those who earlier squatted on footpaths for a living. It converts into an open clean area during the night for prayers at festival times and a place to visit more generally.
A number of government departments and the BMC have been engaged in upgrading the road infrastructure to keep pace with the revitalisation of the Old Town. Heritage restoration seems to be leading urban development in Bhubaneswar. Other heritage cities have a lot to learn.
The writer is chairperson, ICRIER and also former chairperson of the high-powered expert committee on urban infrastructure services, which submitted its report to the Union urban development ministry in March 2011