Mallika Sharma*
Abstract
Cultural heritage is an expression of ways of living developed by a community and passed on from generation to generation. This could be the tangible assets, such as buildings, monuments, archaeological sites, artifacts, landscape, and intangible assets such as oral traditions, folklore, language, and knowledge. Though all these can be viewed, analyzed, studied separately, they cannot be experienced as standalone entities. The understanding of our cultural heritage is fragmented and the need is to go beyond the traditional view of cultural heritage as material objects requiring conservation and preservation. The methodology for the study has been exploratory with reviewing literary sources. Offering a broad overview of what entails cultural heritage, the purpose is to initiate a dialogue on how, in the context of Punjab, it could be best understood and experienced so as to give justice to the richness it has to offer while understanding that this will always be an on-going process. The historical city of Sirhind has been taken as a case example, which for all of the vicissitudes of its history, continues to showcase a unique case of cultural heritage assets.
Keywords: Culture, history, cultural heritage, landscape, sacred, Punjab, architecture, conservation
[This article belongs to International Journal of Architectural Design and Planning(ijadp)]
References
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- Identified Heritage components include 20 tombs along with 10 Masjids, 2 Gurudwaras, a garden sarai (Aam Khas Bagh) a haveli, a Mughal bridge
- Case example is in Pind Talania. Also in Sirhind there are examples of Masjids and Tombs being looked after by the Sikh community. Guru ki Maseet is another such an example which being under the Waqf board has always been under the protection of the Sikh community.
- The dissemination of information is another crucial area of discussion for cultural heritage at large. For example the role of storytelling in expanding the historical narrative is worth exploring. Though not in the ambit of the current study, the role of information needs to be acknowledged.
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- Pertaining specifically to the development and growth of tomb architecture, one can discern a pattern emerging which corresponds to both the central and provincial architectural development and a pattern corresponding to historical context within the provincial which is more in focus for the current study. It may be mentioned here that after Funerary structures continued with the Royal Cenotaph or Shahi Samadhan being built by the Patiala Royalty.
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| Volume | 01 |
| Issue | 02 |
| Received | April 12, 2023 |
| Accepted | April 26, 2023 |
| Published | May 23, 2023 |