Swachh Bharat Drive Defaces Parvati Hill’s 300-Year Old Heritage Wall
Updated: Apr 13, 2018, 08.19 AM IST
A lone wall that once upon a time arched the Parvati Hill from its front steps, hardly piques citizens in the neighbourhood — they look upon it as yet another old structure withering away with the march of time. This disinterest is also reflected in Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) lack of understanding of its relevance to Pune’s history and thereby the need to protect the ancient structure.
The historic Ramana wall, located near the Ramana Ganapati temple at the base of the hill, today stands badly defaced with a fresh coat of plaster as the ward office of the civic body readies to ink it with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’s messages.
The wall is more than 300 years old, constructed with five-feet thick bricks. The word ‘ramana’ means offering scholarships, which has been an age-old tradition practiced since before the Peshwa era. Earlier, the ritual was conducted in Ramanbaug, which subsequently moved to this temple at the foothills of Parvati. The Peshwa rulers were known to provide monitory help and victuals in the form of ‘ramana’ to the needy visiting the city. They used to distribute the ‘ramana’ sitting on these walls.
It is also believed that Ram Shastri Prabhune, the chief justice of the Peshwa court, used to test the scholars here sometimes, many of whom came from far-off places to avail of the Peshwa purse.
The Parvatigaon residents have long been demanding that the structure be included in the heritage list, which had fallen on deaf ears.
However, now, with PMC’s attempt to wipe away the very existence of the wall, locals have come together to protest against this act. They have written to the municipal commissioner to rectify the mistake and restore the wall by including it in the list of heritage structures in Pune.
The local ward officer claims that they had already sought the heritage cell’s opinion on the matter, and that since the structure was not listed they went ahead with the ‘beautification’. The wall was in a state of disrepair.
Calling attention to its apathetic condition, Santosh Patole, one of the residents of Parvati, said, “Much of the wall has been swallowed up by encroachments. We were insisting that the remaining parts be preserved. But the authorities have neglected our demand. To make matters worse, the ruling party is now trying to advertise its schemes on a structure of such a heritage value.” He laments the loss of its pristine beauty. Another resident, Sujit Lajurkar, called attention to a lack of communication between the archaeological department, heritage cell and ward offices. “We are losing a historical treasure because of the attitude of the authorities. We are demanding an inquiry on why the wall was not included in the list of heritage structures,” said Lajurkar.
When this was put forth to an officer of PMC’s heritage cell, he said, “As the place was not in the heritage list, we allowed the ward office to renovate it. Before including any ancient or historical structure in the list of heritage, the civic body first gives an approval taking into account the demand from locals and local representatives. An opinion of a historian is also sought in such cases. In this case none of this took place, therefore we have allowed the beautification of the structure.”
Madhav Deshpande, deputy commissioner, PMC, who was also in-charge of the task, said, “We have received the complaint from the locals. The Kasba-Vishrambaugwada ward office that is carrying out the task had sought the opinion from the heritage cell before getting started on their job. There was no record available to show why this wall was erected at this place.”
Deshpande emphasised that the structure was lying in a shambles, surrounded by bushes and trees, with holes in the wall, prompting the authorities to deduce that the “structure had no heritage value”. “Our intention was good — as we wished to apply plaster on the wall to beautify the place. But we have still not demolished it. We have now stopped the work,” said Deshpande.
Indologist Sayali Palande Datar said, “This wall was the only antique structure remaining at the foothill of Parvati symbolic of the ‘ramana’ tradition. It is equally distressing that the Ramana Ganapati temple has lost its sheen given the number of renovations. The entire area started getting encroached by people soon after the Panshet flood. It is very unfortunate that we could not save this ancient structure,” said Palande Datar. She called attention to the many structures in and around Pune which are not on the heritage list but have incredible historical value, expressing shock on the manner in which “the authorities tried to remove its existence without conducting any study”.
“We can experience different eras that the city has lived by keeping such structures intact. What purpose will the use of the wall for cleanliness message serve? Nothing is going to be solved and this is completely unacceptable,” concluded Palande Datar.
Source : Pune Mirror
