NAKSHAY 'where community maps its heritage' is conservation architect Krupa Rajangam's passion project. It is the outcome of her ongoing research to involve communities in conservation.

The project objective is to get different community groups to identify and map places of significance to them, through a bottom up approach rather than top down.

The premise is that a successful i.e. sustainable heritage conservation system is one which has developed from within the community and the first step towards having such a system in place is to identify existing cultural heritage.

This is because it is believed that communities would be more willing to safeguard something they have identified as heritage than otherwise. Thus a community led culture mapping project that aims to,

Instill a sense of pride in communities by creating awareness of local heritage

Get communities to take a lead in conservation of their heritage by fostering local identity

The project marks Saythu's (Krupa and Pankaj's conservation practice) deep commitment to engaging with local communities and belief in the Nakshay process. Hence the Team has commenced the project without waiting for external funding.

Watch our community engagement sessions under Sites.