PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 3

Call it inordinate delay in the preservation work or lack of a professional approach on the part of the Departments of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums, Punjab, involved in its conservation, the beautiful fresco adorning the four walls of a room on the terrace of the Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the historic Ram Bagh has been ruined.

The rare fresco which depicts Lord Krishna during Raasleela has been damaged which has not only upset heritage lovers but also raised eyebrows about the seriousness of the government in preserving the invaluable heritage.

The department even failed to do the necessary documentation of the frescos though the monument has been under its possession for a long time now. Before the restoration work started in 2007, the department used to run a museum on the ground floor of the heritage structure while the terrace remained neglected. It was converted into a museum in 1975. It is ironical that the department entrusted with the conservation and preservation of the cultural heritage of the state failed to notice the importance of rare frescos.

The priceless frescoes are an invaluable part of Punjab’s heritage. The period of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the Renaissance period in Punjab when art and architecture flourished under his patronage.

The Summer Palace was recently opened for conservation, which has been stopped midway reportedly due to lack of funds. It remained closed for almost a year. The conservation work started after almost two years. A major portion of the beautiful wall paintings is history now while a small portion still exists.

A conservation expert involved in the work pointed out on condition of anonymity that the wall paintings should have been preserved on a priority basis. He said the damaged portion is not possible to be retrieved or replicated in the absence of any documentation.

Jatinder Singh Sandhu, who is supervising the preservation work, said, “What is lost is lost. We are preserving whatever we have at present. We took up the preservation work around a couple of months ago.” It is very difficult to recreate the lost fresco until and unless there is some documentation. He said the Tourism Department did not have the documentation of the wall paintings, adding that he was not aware if the ASI had done it or not.

He added that cracks had appeared on the walls of the said room which might be the reason for the ruining of the wall paintings. Currently, we have sealed all entry points by repairing the doors and other wooden work besides reconstructing the roofs which were extensively damaged with the passage of time.

Professor (Dr) Balvinder Singh, a conservation expert and former head of the Guru Ram Das School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University, said, “If the department has done the documentation of the frescoes, either traditionally or in a digital way, there is a possibility to revive it. Otherwise there is no hope,” he said, adding that restoration should be carried out on a war footing and by professionals only.

The structure is at present under the possession of Department of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums, Punjab. It was entrusted with the work in 2007. The historic structure was declared a monument of national importance in October 2004. However, it was never handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The tussle between the ASI and the Tourism Department over the possession of this immensely significant historic structure has adversely affected its maintenance.