Kolkata, Jan 13 (PTI) Director of French Institute inIndia, Bertrand de Hartingh has called upon all stakeholdersin Chandannagar in West Bengal to chip in to make the formerFrench colony a tourism hub and the West Bengal government hasexpressed support for it.
"Like Marrakech in Morocco, Chandernagore can be atourism destination in India if the owners of the heritagebuildings are able to refurbish their own properties andmanage to get enough support. One possible way will be toinvite people from outside to stay in their traditionalhouses," Harthingh said.
Most of the 99 heritage buildings in Chandannagarwhich retain French influences are now private properties, hesaid yesterday at the conclusion of a week-long 'BonjourIndia' project for Chandannagar.
Chandannagar, a former French colony earlier known asChandernagore is located 35 km from the city in Hooglydistrict. It became independent in May 1950.
A week-long workshop was held as part of the 'BonjourIndia' project to restore the heritage Registry building onthe picturesque strand by the Ganga river in the town. It isone of the 99 heritage structures blending the uniqueIndo-French architectural patterns.
Hartingh said the restoration is "a people's projectfor which we can bring experts but is built on theparticipation of the owners (of the buildings)."About financing, Hartingh said "We want financialsupport to make plans like restoration of the Registrybuilding actionable."Crowdfunding is definitely an option, he said.
Conservation architect Aishwarya Tipnis, who puttogether the 'Bonjour India' project and conducted theworkshop, said the most striking feature of Chandernagoreheritage buildings is that they are a melange of Bengali andFrench architectural styles unlike other French colonies whichhave only French architecture. All such old houses which lookEuropean from outside have the unique Bengal style court yardinside.
"While seven of the earmarked 99 heritage propertieshave been listed by West Bengal Heritage Commission, we areworking to restore all the 99 including the Registry building... We are preparing for the next phase of Registrybuilding restoration," she said.
The workshop was held between January 5 to January 12and was attended by students of three Indian institutions andone French institute.
It came up with ideas of having coffee shops and amodern library at the registry building complex afterrestoration, Hartingh said.
The week-long 'Bonjour Chandernagore' also consistedof 'adda' sessions where everything from gastronomy to theworld-famed indigenous illumination were touched upon andlocal electricians and descendants of popular local sweetmaker Surjo Modak were invited, Tipnis said.
West Bengal Minister of State for Information andCultural Affairs Indranil Sen said the government supportedthe initiative and was committed to promoting Chandernagore asa tourism destination along with the French consulate. PTI SUSKKKK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.