Identification, documentation and promotion of cultural heritage: problems and prospects in the Indian context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to overview the current state of affairs of the Indian heritage treasures, which are being identified, restored, preserved and promoted by various organizations at national and international levels with an emphasis on its documentation aspect. Lack of information about the heritage sites, structures and its significance, especially unprotected and unidentified, leads to its permanent loss. One of the prominent measures to safeguard from such irrevocable cultural deprivation is its documentation. Further, the study aims to examine the significant challenges associated with identifying unrevealed heritage assets of the country in the context of its preservation, documentation and promotion. As a suggestive measure, the study aims to propose the need for developing a comprehensive cultural heritage register assisted with technological aids focusing on community participation in taking stock of the heritage items they possess and enable them to effectively document. Design/methodology/approach The present study extracts the cultural heritage data available with the UNESCO belongs to Indian heritage assets inscribed in its World Heritage portal. The collected data has been analyzed and interpreted to overview the country's recognition at the global level. The data collected from the official portal is further explored and customized to have a lucid account. The details about the organizations and institutions working on heritage conservation and preservation activities in India are also collected. A review of published literature on the related areas has also been performed to identify the issues and challenges associated with the documentation of heritage assets to support this study. The study also included the researcher’s experience in working with cultural heritage documentation. Findings India holds a substantial quantity of cultural as well as natural heritage items. However, an exhaustive effort to document them at the national level is not being accomplished to its full potential. Many of the assets, inheritances or sites of cultural importance have not been fully identified, preserved or documented; hence, it is unrecalled forever once lost. Some organizations and individuals working on cultural heritage lack clarity in its function and do not follow any common standards in its documentation. For any conservation activity, documentation is prime, and the local community's support is also essential. Means of international collaboration for managing and promoting the heritage are required to be encouraged. Findings of the study demand the need for utilizing digital technologies to assist the documentation process. It emphasizes the requirement of having a web-based single window online gateway where an individual or community can dispense the knowledge and resources they possess hence contributing to heritage conservation, preservation and sustainability. Research limitations/implications The study limited to Indian scenario and the data on the heritage sites are collected from UNESCO's World Heritage portal. Only the documentation and promotional aspects of the cultural heritage are discussed. There are many lesser-known and unprotected cultural heritage in different parts of the country with artistic value. The unique characteristics that have not been recorded anywhere are to be documented systematically to reduce the frequency and severity of losses. The implication of the study highlights the present scenario of cultural heritage documentation in India and the need for a comprehensive heritage information gateway supported with a register facility to precisely document and retrieve. Practical implications Aspects of culture which are inherited from the past to the present are to be preserved for future generations. Digital archives of cultural heritage and the use of digital tools to document them are effective mechanisms to protect and store the data on endangered heritage items. For any such conservation effort, documentation is its first step. Developing and facilitating access to an exclusive database of cultural heritage at risk boast its sustainability and can be enriched by the involvement of local communities. Public access to such a database would greatly support administrators, tourist departments, culture departments, development administration and conservation activists to gather the details of unprotected heritage items of the country, its present condition, risk of damage, etc. which further helps in its preservation, conservation, sustainability and promotion in a constructive manner. Originality/value To the authors' best knowledge, no such single and comprehensive mechanism in the country allow the individuals to contribute to the inventory list holding information about the identified, unprotected and unidentified heritage assets which are having a risk of damage, threat, decay, vulnerable, neglect, lack of use or inappropriate maintenance and development. Developing such a system with technological and data infrastructure helps to pool all the cultural heritage resources under one umbrella. It imparts the value and significance of protecting and promoting heritage inheritances and a safe haven of them from the risk of its chronic loss. The system can also support all the activities related to heritage protection and bring the local community to timely support and initiate such heritage conservation activities.