Inside a climate-controlled facility in New Delhi, experts meticulously restore rare historical documents and artifacts, safeguarding irreplaceable pieces that offer a glimpse into the city’s rich history.
At the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), specialists painstakingly revive deteriorating maps and photos that trace the development of the vast metropolis, now home to over 30 million people.
This work deepens the understanding of a diverse city shaped by waves of settlement and transformation over thousands of years.
An employee restores a glass painting of the Hindu deity Hanuman at the conservation department of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts in New Delhi. — AFP
“We are preserving memory,” explained Achal Pandya, head of the IGNCA conservation lab. “A nation without memory is nothing.”
Among their treasured items are the Wilson survey maps, a collection of around 250 documents created between 1910 and 1912 by a British colonial officer.
These maps detail Old Delhi, originally established as the Mughal capital Shahjahanabad in the 17th century.
Accompanying these maps are detailed records of past residents and their locations.
“You’re not just preserving a map, but also providing insights into the people who lived there,” said Sanjeev Kumar Singh, a member of New Delhi’s heritage restoration team.
Years of neglect have made these fragile documents even more susceptible to damage, exacerbated by the city’s extreme climate—ranging from scorching heat to humid monsoons and winter cold, often accompanied by severe air pollution.
Without the preservation efforts initiated in 2022, these would have disintegrated, the restorers assert.
“The importance of this is akin to providing oxygen to a dying person,” Singh told AFP.
