The Bara Lao ka Gumbad is a late 15th century cenotaph in Delhi. It could play host to a wedding or a literature festival if a Delhi government proposal to rent out monuments for private events is implemented. - ST
NEW DELHI: It is a balmy winter afternoon. Workers from shops and offices nearby are having lunch, seated in small groups on the lawn of a park in Delhi’s Vasant Vihar neighbourhood. Squirrels and crows keep them company, nibbling on grains left behind for them.
Towering above them is the recently restored Bara Lao ka Gumbad, a 15th-century cenotaph. Its white-domed structure – lined with deep blue tiles – peeks out from a grove of eucalyptus trees.
It is an idyllic spot that could also play host to a wedding or a literature festival if a Delhi government proposal to rent out monuments for private events is implemented.
The idea is to boost the event management industry and generate funds to better maintain these monuments, many of which are in a pitiful state.
But heritage enthusiasts fear that large-scale events at or around these centuries-old monuments, especially if poorly regulated, could cause further damage.
Delhi is dotted with many old monuments. It is part of a rich architectural heritage bequeathed by several empires that ruled from the city, including the mediaeval Delhi Sultanate from the 13th to the 16th centuries, as well as the Mughal and British empires that followed.
An official with the Delhi government’s Department of Archaeology, who did not want to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, told The Straits Times that the idea is currently being discussed, with details to be made public only when they are finalised.
The list of monuments that could be opened to private events does not include iconic sites – such as Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb and Qutub Minar – that are better maintained by the federally managed Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
What is potentially on offer instead are around 75 lesser-known monuments looked after by the Delhi government, which are in varying states of conservation, including tombs, mosques, minarets and stepwells.
Many of these are located in densely crowded areas that are difficult to access and ill suited for large-scale gatherings, which typically require substantial space for parking and other logistical arrangements. Yet, some of these monuments could indeed offer striking venues for private events.
For instance, the lawns in front of the Baradari (or Pavilion) at Qudsia Bagh – a large historic 18th-century garden – could be a possible wedding venue. The Mutiny Memorial, a 19th-century Gothic red sandstone tower dedicated to those who died fighting for the British, could offer a striking backdrop for a book launch or similar event.
From mundane to monumental
Among the several organisations advocating opening up Delhi’s monuments is the Event and Entertainment Management Association, the apex body representing India’s events and entertainment industry. The association has been in discussions with the city’s government to realise this goal.
Samit Garg, its president, told ST that the move would not just boost the quality of events, but also promote culture and heritage.
“The experience of going into the four walls of a five-star hotel has become mundane,” he said.
The decision to allow an event at a monument will come with necessary caveats, he noted, including those related to religious sensibilities.
“When we say opening up monuments, it does not necessarily mean you’re going into the four walls of the monument. The monument has a garden area, an outer courtyard... The monument basically becomes the backdrop,” he said.
“You’re not dancing and making merry on the roof of the monument. It is just a nice visual backdrop.”
Garg stressed that the monument’s preservation and sanctity would be the top priority.
“That is where everything will begin,” he said.
But others are not enthused. Sohail Hashmi, a Delhi-based heritage conservationist and writer, told ST that some events, such as a historical play that blends in with a monument’s setting, could be organised at certain venues.
“But, unfortunately, the Delhi government does not think of this. They are thinking of organising weddings that lack any sense of aesthetics,” he said.
Indian weddings can be boisterous, often involving several hundred attendees, expansive marquees and excessively loud music, which Hashmi and many others fear could damage the city’s fragile monuments.
Moreover, holding a wedding or any other celebration at a tomb or a cenotaph seems jarring and disrespectful to many.
“These monuments are part of our history and culture. They are not to be used as a backdrop for such pedestrian displays,” Hashmi added.
Crumbling heritage
The government’s track record of protecting India’s built heritage has been weak, which has further heightened concerns over its ability to prevent unwanted damage from large-scale events.
Many monuments are either already crumbling or have been lost entirely to India’s frenetic development and urban growth. As many as 50 of India’s 3,700 or so monuments protected by the ASI have been reported as “missing”, but heritage experts believe this number could be much higher.
The number of ASI-protected sites across the country also represents just a fraction of India’s built heritage, even after including the 4,500 or so monuments protected by state governments.
Research by the non-profit Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, however, has documented as many as 80,000 heritage structures in about 800 cities and towns across the country.
Even those looked after by the ASI need better care. Woefully tight conservation budgets and a manpower shortage at the organisation have contributed to the neglect of India’s monuments.
According to a parliamentary committee report in 2022, guards were posted at fewer than 7 per cent of the 3,693 centrally protected monuments.
“How can you be thinking of making money from your heritage when you’re not prepared to spend on it?” said Hashmi, suggesting that Delhi’s rich heritage, if managed and branded well, can raise much more revenue from tourism than weddings and other private events.
This is not the first time the idea of opening up the city’s monuments for business has sparked controversy. In 2024, a proposal to set up a fine-dining restaurant inside one of the gateways of the 16th-century Humayun’s Tomb complex in Delhi – a Unesco World Heritage Site – was shelved after it triggered an uproar.
Going local, building bridges
Yet, opening up monuments for certain kinds of events that foster a stronger connection between local communities and the heritage in their neighbourhood may not be a bad idea.
Dr Swapna Liddle, a Delhi-based historian and heritage conservationist, said many monuments in the city remain locked up for protection, which prevents communities in their vicinity from building a greater stake and interest in them.
She told ST that this can change if monuments are opened for communal use – possibly as quiet public resting places – especially in a crowded city like Delhi that lacks such spots, or as venues for community events such as art shows featuring local artists.
“Those kinds of things, you know, which are much more public and community-based rather than private functions,” she said.
“And more importantly, this should be done in a way that assigns responsibility to make sure that the event doesn’t go against the conservation needs of the monument or the spirit of the monument.” - The Straits Times/ANN
