Risk mapping of Gujarat’s first Unesco world heritage site begins

Vadodara: For the first time, risk and asset mapping of Gujarat’s first World Heritage Site – Champaner-Pavagadh – is being carried out.
Under a collaborative project between M S University, UK’s Durham University, Allahabad University and the Vadodara circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), teams of archaeologists, practitioners along with students have started collecting data from the ancient ruins at Champaner for which the teams are using geophysical instruments like magnetometers.

The data collected will be used to prepare archaeological risk maps for each of the ASI-protected heritage monuments. This maps can guide the future infrastructure such as laying of water pipes and power lines, creating amenities for tourists like washrooms and parking or even laying footpaths without damaging the subsurface heritage located beneath the ground.

Such an exercise to know what lies beneath the heritage monuments is being done on such a large-scale for the first time at Champaner-Pavagadh, the UNESCO-declared World Heritage Site that combines religious tourism and recorded heritage of 2,000 years belonging to the Rajputs, the Jains, the pre-Sultanate and post-Sultanate era.

The site, with archaeologically sensitive 16th century Rajput and sultanate structures, temples, mosques and legends surrounding it, was declared a world heritage by UNESCO in 2004.

“The basic purpose behind the project is to know whether there are ancient ruins buried under the surface. Through the geophysical survey, we are trying to ascertain this so that in future, whatever infrastructure development takes place, it does not damage the archaeological ruins,” said professor K Krishnan from MSU’s Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

“Magnetometers which are hand-held instruments can provide very accurate results up to two meters below the surface,” said Dr Vrushab Mahesh.

“We have covered around ten monuments including the Jamma Masjid, the Kevda Masjid, Nagina Masjid and the Three Cells, a structure situated within the fort-walls of Champaner during our study that was done for around a month in November last. The risk maps will be ready by next month after which we will share the results with ASI,” he said.

The project undertaken on pilot basis also promises to act as a future reference to other archaeological sites in the country.

At the same time, the study includes asset mapping by collecting visitor information. “Currently, there is very little data available on the tourist demography who come to Champaner-Pavagadh either for heritage or for religious tourism. We are collecting visitor behaviour information to know what percentage visitors are visiting Champaner, Pavagadh or both, information of foreigners who are visiting the ancient ruins so that we can gauge current level of social and economic impact of heritage on local communities,” said Mahesh.