Incredible India’s junk yards

etin

From Meenakshi temple, Madurai, to Delhi’s Humayun’s tomb, it’s the same story of callousness.

If you’ve missed reading the series of investigative stories on the health of our heritage on the front pages of this paper, you can access all the eye-opening stories and pictures on our website, www.expressindia.com. And if you are still not shaken by the disaster that is looming, please look for the signs the next time you happen to visit a heritage site yourself. Full Story

abracax

The author argues that thousands of people should be deprived of their livelihoods and several generations' worth of communal evolution should be scrubbed away to create an idealized version of a pristine monumument worthy of inclusion on an arbitrary list of world wonders. I would counter that the real wonder of the Meenakshi Amman temple is that instead of being a sterile piece of abandoned architecture - of which India has countless examples - it is still a living, breathing social entity. If a foreigner had written that piece we could have laughed it off as arrogant ignorance, but an Indian .....desperately pathetic.

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Nick-H

I think he is really arguing that it should be taken care of and he is making many valid points.

I know what you mean about the 'life' of a South Indian temple... but this has more to do with the people, the oil lamps, the smoke and stains of religious ritual than with commercialism and damage. I very much enjoyed my visit to the market hall of Meenakshi temple: but perhaps if someone had pointed out the damage then my eyes might have been opened in a different way.

Something that I see around me here is a terrible disregard for infrastructure. I hate to see the beautiful old houses disapearing and being replaced with soulless concrete blocks, but in a way it is almost more shocking to see how what a state those same buildings will be in a year or two. (cries of 'hypocrit' here, from friends who know just how bad I am at housekeeping, decorating, etc...).

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crvlvr

Why don't they privatize the management of these sites? The govt does a deplorable job with anything they attempt to do in India.

I heard when they privatized the trash collection in Chennai (and paid the company based on the weight of the trash collected) the city went from overflowing dumpsters to empty ones rather quickly. Moreover, people had to start watching what they left outside, as anything that was left on the street was picked up and disposed of.

I did a quick google and came up with this related article http://www.blonnet.com/life/2002/01/...1400120200.htm

greenchutney

i just came back from a couple of monuments listed in the article and i couldnt agree more with the author..in fact i was going to send a letter to the editor of one of the major newspapers or write an article about this myself..

some of the crowd behaviour is at its worst in some of the monuments..i saw a man throw an empty water bottle from the platform of the taj aiming for the yamuna...i saw people spit on the podium...there was garbage all over the back side of taj...plastic bags/bottles....a group of south indian tourists screaming inside the main tomb..testing echo's...grandmothers to normal adults to children...i was ashamed~

the ambience, the life of the temple can be maintained by some simple steps...we are not talking radical stuff...to start with; its the whole culture of cleanliness...which is lacking..respect for it is lacking...coming to a dead man's tomb and being loud, noisy, touching anything and eveything that your hands could reach...young kids running rampant with no control......

i am ashamed to be indian when i go to some of the monuments and see how fellow citizens treat our heritage...in comparision; go see the wats in thailand..how beautiful they are maintained and how clean the environs are...

i myself picked the garbage in the meenakshi temple, the brihadeeshwara temple; the taj and did what i could in the two hours approx i was there in each site...

.... .we could start cleanliness education around our monuments if not our cities or towns...and foster pride in our citizens for it...i am afraid if not; we stand to see the gradual degradation as the author suggests...

aadil

Very true, I just cannot understand why people have to shout inside the domes to hear their voices echo and run around in these places making noises that you would not otherwise make when at home!!! Also the burning of oil inside the temples makes the walls of stone turn brittle and black with the soot but it is never cleaned up even after months or years probably. And then the sanctity of the place is not respected with people like priests asking for money inside whenever they see foreigners or well to do Indians too. Giving money is something that should come from within and if someone does not intend to do so his wishes should be respected and not pestered to donate large or even small amounts if he does not wish to do so. Garbage is a big problem in all sites that I have visited in India and I've never see a clean temple or mosque or monument anywhere. I've tried to prevent people who throw garbage in my presence and make them understand what they are doing is wrong but then cannot do that to everyone coming in and doing the same thing all the time. A major problem is lovers sitting in cosy corners as if they have nowhere else to go to be together to enjoy their life. Really pains me to see all this happening in front of the guards or priests of the monument / temple and even if they are told about it they have a careless attitude that never seems to ever change. Another problem is the security people who leave behind their blankets, mats and water bottles in nooks and corners of temples or monuments for use at night and are stored in these places during the day and spoil the whole beauty of the place when they are seen hidden in the monument or temple. Wish things would change for the better and hope it is soon.

Aadil.

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cyberhippie

Phew a big can of worms guys and a little bit of healthy soul searching. The issue of "civic pride" in India is a "biggie" and I'll have to have a think before making any comments????

Digital Drifter

The only region with a lot more civic sense is Kerala, I believe. At least 2 3 orders of magnitude better than other states. Going intot he Temples in Kerala is a pleasure.

OTOH, Halebid, the temple Nandi has got Graffit on it's body. Maaan, I hope they tattoo the same stuff on the chap who did that with a broken pencil and no anesthetic.

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