A nation that is incapable of maintaining its monuments as heritage and legacy will be forgotten by history sooner or later. Great nations have made tremendous sacrifices to maintain and preserve their rich heritage even during cataclysmic times. During the WW II, the priceless treasure of the British Museum was removed and deposited in safe underground vaults so that even if the museum was destroyed in enemy bombing, its treasure remained safe. But that is a great nation.
Dogra rulers established their sway over Jammu and Kashmir in 1846. The founder of the Dogra ruling dynasty was not destined to live more than five years after he had ascended the throne. But his illustrious son and grand son, Maharaja Ranbir Singh and Maharaja Pratap Singh spared time to raise a number of monuments, forts, and structures primarily at the capital city of Jammu and also at other places in the State. The most popular of these structures is what is known as Mubarak Mandi, the seat of the royalty. As was the custom in those days, a vast complex came up with structures meant to serve different purposes like audience halls, durbar halls, coronation hall, retiring rooms, temple sites, private segments, guard rooms etc. with ponds and landscape and walk-paths etc. These structures stand at heights and down below runs the Tawi lending panoramic view and thus increasing the grandeur of the site.
The structures are attractive from constructional point of view because these represent the classical style of construction of the complexes for the royalty to live and rule over the kingdom. Therefore from historical, cultural, architectural and sentimental point of view Mubarak Mandi has its own grace and significance for the people of Jammu. Some years back, right thinking persons in the Government and in civil society acknowledged the necessity of preserving and restoring the collapsing structures to their original condition. Thus came into existence the Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society. Archaeological Survey of India, the prestigious national organization was roped in to undertake repair and restoration of the Mubarak Mandi Complex. The Society constituted its Governing Body with mixed membership from Government representatives and those from civil society.
All this exercise has been done over a period of time and ASI has also taken up some of the assignments as it has the expertise and requisite infrastructure. The Central Government provided a sum of 50 crore rupees for the maintenance and restoration task. Nearly a decade has gone by no tangible work has been done on the repair and restoration of this complex. Whatever work is undertaken goes at a snail’s pace and according to knowledgeable sources if this pace is maintained, it will take one full century to complete the task. But before the century ends, most of the heritage will be lost to us owing to weathering and wear and tear. We have reports that out of allotted 50 crore rupees a bare 1.50 crore rupees have been spent so far. This indicates lack of interest and endemic apathy which the stakeholders have been exhibiting all these years. The Society has left the people disappointed and the threat is that decay will eat into the vitals of this rich heritage site sooner than later. This is not the first time that we are harkening the Government and all concerned about the fate of this complex if left to its fate and sluggish approach to its maintenance.
In a recent meeting of the Governing Body, scathing criticism was made about absolute lack of interest among the responsible organs to facilitate speedy completion of restoration work. When the Executive Director of the Society rose to make a presentation of work done, the members refused to listen saying that there was nothing visible on the ground. They asked what the sense was in making a presentation when there was nothing on the ground to be shown. Not only had the members of the Governing Body expressed their dissatisfaction, the Chief Minister who was presiding the meeting, also felt unhappy over poor performance. Therefore he directed the Divisional Commissioner of Jammu to come up with comprehensive Restoration-cum-Utilization Plan by August 1, 2015. Interestingly, some members of the Governing Body doubted the ability of the ASI to complete the part of job assigned to it because past experience had shown that it did not come up to their expectation. It was suggested that other agencies with expertise in heritage preservation should also be contacted. In particular, such agencies have given good proof of their expertise in Rajasthan and these could be contacted and consulted. Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex has great emotional connection with the people of Jammu. It is no wisdom to play with their sentiment. The taste of pudding is in eating, and what they want is what they are able to see on the ground.
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