Kapurthala haveli to turn living centre for heritage & music

Jalandhar: The Anad Foundation, New Delhi, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the owners of the 19th-century Haveli Diwan Hari Chand in Kapurthala, Punjab, to restore and regenerate the place as a living centre for heritage, learning, and community engagement. After restoration, the Haveli is proposed to function as a campus for conservation and performance of musical traditions, especially those linked to Gurbaṇi Sangeet, pedagogy, instrument-making, archives, and serious study.The MoU was signed by Anand Foundation chairperson Bhai Baldeep Singh, an exponent of Gurbani Sangeet and conservationist, and retd IAS officer Sanjeev Chopra, on behalf of the owner family. Chopra was the director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. The Haveli, measuring approximately 2,983 sq ft, was originally constructed around 1860, and Dewan Hari Chand, a senior functionary of the Kapurthala princely state, lived in it. The house, constructed with Nanak Shahi bricks, is regarded locally as one of the oldest surviving havelis in the old city.Speaking at the signing, Chopra said five generations of his family grew up in the haveli. "While exploring its restoration, I was clear that I did not want to see the house turned into just another commercial property," he said, adding that Punjab's former special chief secretary K B S Sidhu played a key role in the collaboration between the two sides.Bhai Baldeep Singh said that, in the first phase, they would focus on restoration using appropriate vernacular materials, traditional building techniques, and respect for the original spatial logic of the house. "The Haveli is proposed to function as a small but intense campus for: conservation and performance of endangered musical traditions, especially those linked to Gurbaṇi Sangeet and wider South Asian classical/heritage repertoires; instrument-making, repair and pedagogy; archival work with manuscripts, recordings and oral histories; and research, workshops, retreats and residential study.""This MoU is not about renting a picturesque old house; it is about demonstrating that a historic building can be restored in its own architectural language and then become a working home for endangered music, pedagogy, instruments, archives, and serious study, rather than simply being painted, lit and sold to tourism," he added.MSID:: 128677308 413 |