Development and Research on Nature, Arts and Heritage

Built Heritage, Ecology and Environment, Community Participation, Arts & Crafts and Education


	"we share a vision for a better quality of life without foregoing the links from past................"


	Dronah Publication

	Context : Built, Living and Natural”, a bi-annual journal records and evaluates documentation and conservation methods for built and natural heritage and also relates people’s role in the process. It encompasses the complete milieu of people, place and architecture and provides a common platform for professionals, NGO’s, donors/funding agencies, government officials and academicians to express their views.
	Vol 3 Issue I	Editorial>>> How often do we go beyond the mere recording of the physical and the social context to inquire into the human, anthropological angle? How often do we attempt to understand and interpret the indigenous ways of living, constructing and conserving? As trained professionals, do we ever question the existing methodologies for documentation and conservation or try to evolve new ones? This issue brings forth relevant questions about our present methodologies for documentation and conservation of heritage. It presents anthropological perspectives - people and their rituals, their reverence for nature, the indigenous solutions to conserve their surroundings and the various representations of their beliefs. Nold Egenter debates the very basis of existing documentation and presentation of architectural history - and introduces an anthropological framework to study architecture focusing on evolutionary aspects of human beings as opposed to the existing one on subjective, aesthetic values. The article on Malaji’s hill by Bhoju Ram Gujar and Ann Grodzins Gold expresses similar views about conservation. It shows that indigenous communities devise their own methods often rooted in traditional beliefs to preserve their surrounding environment. In contrast, and further emphasising the urban-rural dichotomy, Jyotsna Bapat and Joep Verhagen discuss the challenges faced in a World Bank funded conservation project for the water bodies in Hyderabad. Their article Blue Green Hyderabad highlights the failure of planned community participation in conserving heritage in an urban setting. The message in the above two examples is loud and clear - the solution for sustainable conservation lies within. Traditional societies often generate their own rules of survival and the real training of professionals is probably through studying such cases. The heritage albums on Mata ni Pachedi and Chamba festival as well as the book review again emphasise the significance of intangible cultural heritage. After a comprehensive evaluation of the policies for conserving built heritage in our earlier issues, this time, we present the views of expert environmentalists Vandana Shiva and Sunita Narain on different aspects of the MOEF’s National Environment Policy. Shikha Jain Contents>>> Editorial Compiling Records Mansions of Chettinad, South India Kamalahasan Ramaswamy Anthropology of Habitat and Architecture Nold Egenter Methods and Approaches Malaji’s Hill: Divine Sanction, Community Action Bhoju Ram Gujar and Ann Grodzins Gold Medicinal Plants of Himachal Pradesh - A Natural Heritage Vipan Guleria Amarnath Yatra Trail : Identification of Problems and Recommendations R.L.Bawa Building with Local Resources Jigna Desai and Sanjay Chickermane Sustainable Solutions Blue Green Hyderabad Jyotsana Bapat & Joep Verhagen Heritage Album Mata ni Pachedi, Gujarat Bishaka Shome Chamba - Enchanting Heritage in the Hills Cheena Kanwal Reviews Crucial Implications of Policies - National Environment Policy 2004 Vandana Shiva Good Growth Needs Better Regulation Sunita Narain Book Review Rima Hooja Events & Conferences <<<Back