Kashmir Heritage Seminar Links Naranag Restoration to Local Jobs

Kashmir, Observer, Jammu, Srinagar, Latest Kashmir News, Kashmir News, Kashmir Latest News

By Shahid Mir

Srinagar- At Naranag on November 11, administrators, conservation professionals, scholars and artists studied the practical questions facing a monument in the Harmukh-Gangbal-Nundkol landscape: an alternative village pathway, protection of the structures and restoration of the spring. 

The field visit opened a two-day National Seminar on “Revival, Preservation and Sustainability of Cultural Heritage of Kashmir,” organised by Kakini Building Humanity. 

On November 12, the programme moved to SKICC in Srinagar, where civil society joined the gathering.

Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat addressed the seminar virtually. According to Kakini’s account, he outlined five essentials: Political Will, Public Spending, Partnership, People’s Participation and Persuasion. 

Together they form a framework for turning commitment into resources, institutional cooperation and public ownership. 

Kakini defines persuasion as listening, explaining and building trust, so residents help decide the future of the landscape they know and care for.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha told the audience at SKICC that Kashmir’s significance reaches beyond its natural beauty to philosophy, spirituality, language, aesthetics and human thought. 

He called for research, translation and wider public access to that inheritance, welcomed Kakini’s research and documentation at Naranag, and urged sensitive preservation of the heritage of all communities. 

His reference to the teachings of Lalleshwari and Nund Rishi underscored an inheritance whose value passes from one generation to the next.

That inheritance gives the work its weight. 

Kashmir’s traditions of historical writing, philosophical inquiry, poetry, music and craftsmanship make revival a chance to reconnect young people with the achievements and skills of those who came before them.

At Naranag, Kakini works as a partner under Adopt a Heritage 2.0, with guidance from the Archaeological Survey of India and the approvals that govern conservation work. 

The organisation recognises the ASI’s stewardship and credits the Ganderbal district administration and the J&K Culture Department for their essential cooperation. 

Its wider proposals include interpretation and visitor-facilitation facilities, informed by research through its association with the Indian Institute of Heritage. 

“The aim is to consider Naranag within the larger landscape, respecting its archaeological significance, its ecology and the everyday needs of the community,” Kakini said in a statement. 

“That approach opens opportunities for local guides, artisans, transport providers, hospitality businesses and women’s enterprises. Better interpretation encourages visitors to spend more time learning about the area, and locally provided services help tourism income circulate within the community.”

Kakini described the gathering’s achievement as bringing scholarship, administrative engagement and community concerns into a common programme of action after two years of preparation. 

The organisation’s leadership, Chairman Maj Gen R. K. Raina, Veteran; President Cdr Sanjay Kaul, Veteran; and VP & Secretary Dr Aanchal, thanked the Union Ministry, the Lieutenant Governor, the J&K Government, the ASI, the district administration, institutional partners and participants.

Kakini has set its own measure of success: a monument better protected, a story better understood and a community better able to prosper alongside its heritage. 

At Naranag, the stones, the spring and the people who live beside them now share a single plan.

The post Kashmir Heritage Seminar Links Naranag Restoration to Local Jobs appeared first on Kashmir Observer.