THE PRECINCT OF GURU RAM RAI DURBAR DEHRADUN: INCLUSIVE CONSERVATION HARMONIZING PAST AND PRESENT

Abstract

The feeling of responsibility towards Heritage conservation has been for a long time all over the world, but awareness about Inclusive Heritage Conservation is gaining momentum only of late, especially in developing countries like India. India’s major part of architectural heritage sites is unprotected. As a result of insensitive urbanization and modernization, they are steadily getting eroded. These unprotected sites not only act as a historic document but also represents values to contemporary Indian society that makes them worthy of conservation. These circumstances calls for an immediate involvement in the existing legal structures and frameworks for evolving a full proof concept of management plans for heritage sites and their precincts that helps in attribution of survival and longevity to the distinguished heritage possessions in the country. This paper analyzes the present conditions of Guru Ram Rai Durbar precinct; one of the oldest living built structure of Dehradun, Uttrakhand, India, built by Aurangzeb in 1699 and offers an Inclusive approach for up gradation and conservation of historic Durbar precinct with public participation and studying the present physical conditions. The main objective for undertaking Inclusive Conservation is to establish the effectiveness of conservation promoted with principles of Inclusive Design as a development goal.