Conservation?***

(still working on this post...)
The Supreme Court of India had many years ago observed that conservation didn't mean rebuilding. The ASI thinks differently!

In the above photo one see the finish given to that wall. The masons are either given a free hand or they are following instructions. Before the Residency was taken up for renovation what preserved the walls was the mortar  compared to
 The best example is the Bailey Guard gate at the entrance to the...

Residency in Lucknow! Compare the 1858 and later photos against those of today and 

one can see how much work has gone into restoring the gateway to its 'pristine glory"!

The ASI also reconstructed a massive wooden door to fill the archway. A waste of 

money!  There was a time when one could ride through one gate of the Residency and exit the other. It is true those days the place didn't have the lawns we have today.
But the upkeep involves the 
The dictionary meaning of archaeologist: a person who studies human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artefacts and other physical remains. I have wondered how different  
                                   

The excavation work that took place several years ago in the Residency was done
by labourers supervised by a contractor hired by the ASI. I made regular
trips being interested in history. 

Graves without names make very little
sense! There are several nameless graves
in the Residency Cemetery 

The photo of the original wrought iron gate to the Hussainabad clock tower was taken some months
 before the other photographs of the smashed 
gate. This piece of history was shrouded in 
bushes when I first spotted it while cycling 
past. I was afraid that there are people 

was smashed because none of the
ASI officials visited the spot while the area was
being spruced up...

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2013 photo