Vishram ghat, Mathura, India: a conservation model for ghat restoration in India
River Yamuna flowing through the northern India figures prominently in the visual and performing arts of Braj, a cultural landscape associated with the life of young Krishna, the Hindu god. This cultural heritage is sustained by ritual behaviors that commemorate her mythic role in bathing, worshipping, and circumambulating the land-water interface of steps known as ghats. Vishram Ghat in Mathura, the birth place of Krishna according to the mythology, is much celebrated, attracting pilgrimage on a large scale. Here Yamuna’s cultural heritage is enacted in public life as a living tradition through many festivals and circumambulatory tours. The landscape of ghats includes temples and shrines facing the river. Built and rebuilt over centuries, ghats have facilitated bathing in and worship of Yamuna, are featured in songs and are part of visual culture of Braj. Their dilapidation in recent times and pollution of the river is resulting in a steady loss of heritage and weakening of ties that bind the community with the river. This thesis proposes a conservation model for Vishram Ghat, addressing the issues that threaten its tangible heritage as well as its intangible heritage rooted in the landscape. Restoration of ghats and environmental remediation would be significant steps in conservation of heritage. This thesis analyzes the existing conditions, cultural and historic contexts, examines the existing design typologies, and develops a sustainable conservation plan to resolve the pressing issues that threaten the cultural heritage of Yamuna.
Landscape and heritage, Landscape conservation, River Yamuna, Mathura, ghat, Vishram Ghat, Intangible heritage, cultural view, architectural vocabulary, reading landscape vocabulary, visual analysis, heritage management, heritage planning and analysis, environmental remidiation
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign