Old buildings of Historical and Architectural importance must be preserved in good condition, so that a strong sentiment or feeling of belonging for our history and culture is cherished as it is treasure of history, left by our rulers and builders should be preserved and conserved for future generations.

Conservation / reuse / recycling often also helps to save money and a resource, as it is cheaper to repair and reuse something than to demolish it and build totally new one. It helps us to save expensive resources in preserving the identity of the place, without altering its original features

Monuments are contemporary sources and living examples which speak about the architectural glory of the past in volumes and depict Indian Culture.  Preservation of these monuments and heritage site is not only our responsibility but also our Yeoman Service to the mankind.  

• Conservation means the processes through which material, design and integrity of the monument is safeguarded in terms of its archaeological and architectural value, its historic significance and its cultural or intangible associatio

• Structure means any building, equipment, device or other facility which is fixed to the land and is a part of the monument, site or archaeological remains.

• Intervention means the action undertaken with the objective of conservation, as outlined in the sub-articles 04 to 2.17, for the safeguarding of a monument and its integrity.

• Fabric means all movable and immovable contents of or within a Monument including its setting.

• Maintenance or preventive conservation means the such care of a monument as is exercised in order to prevent damages and deterioration and to avoid an intervention as long as possibl All monuments should be duly maintained in order to retain their significance regularly monitored to any major unnecessary intervention.

• Preservation means maintaining the status quo of a monument including its setting there by not allowing any changes, either through deliberate human interventions or due to action of natural agents of decay to its fabric or its immediate environment.

• Repair means removing or replacing decayed or damaged material or portion of a monument in order to impart stability and to prevent loss of original material.

• Restoration means bringing back the monument or any part thereof, as nearly as possible, to an earlier known state or condition.

• Reassembly or Reinstatement  (Anastylosis) means putting existing but dismembered parts back together.

• Reinstatement means putting components of earlier material back in position.

• Adaptation or Adaptive Reuse means modifying a lesser significance part of the monument, or a place inside or outside it, to suit it to a compatible use, involving , as little as possible, loss of value (as outlined in Sub-article 1.05).

• Reconstruction means to rebuild in the original form.

• Retro fitting means to consolidate a monument’s structure by inserting new parts or new material/technology  in  order  to  improve  their  safety  and  to  make  them functional.

• Scientific clearance means systematic removal of historic building material, debris, buried within or outside the monument, not necessarily at that location to retrieve any buried architectural members or sculptures, etc., for purpose of their study, investigation and possible reinstatement.

• Stabilization or Consolidation means action to arrest processes of decay using external agents that are “time tested and proven scientifically”.

• Transplantation or Translocation means to remove the monument from its existing location and to relocate it at an alternate location.

• Cleaning means periodic removal of any harmful encrustations or non-original surface deposits and bio-deteriorating agent from the surface of a monument.

• Authenticity is a value / significance imparted to a monument through a truthful and accurate depiction of one or more of the following elements:

• location and setting;

• form and design;

• materials, construction techniques and building craftsmanship; and

• function and traditional management systems

• Integrity is the quality / extent of the completeness / intactness of the monument demonstrated through its attributes such as structural, functional (in case of a living monument) and visual.

Conservation Principles :

• The conservation of monuments, archaeological sites and remains constitutes all necessary actions or interventions within and around a monument which are undertaken, as and when deemed necessary, in order to: (a) prolong its life and existence; (b) prevent its damage and deterioration; (c) minimise the impact of external agents of decay  (natural and human induced) on its setting, structure and material; and (d) prepare it for natural or human induced disasters.

• A monument or an archaeological site should be subjected to minimum - whilst only necessary - interventions so as to maintain its authenticity and integrity. Original / historical material and an architectural / ornamental detail (structural or non-structural) must be valued and retained for as long as possible and should not be replaced without the conduct of a proper investigation or simply because these have lost their original form and appearance as a result of slight erosion or natural processes of deterioration.

• All efforts to conserve a monument should be made to retain its value and significance, its authenticity and integrity, its visual connections to and from the monument and to sustain a truthful  representation of  its  original / historic appe the purpose of such an effort should be to ensure that the monument is kept in its original state or, in certain cases, restored to an earlier known state or to a state as it was discovered at the time of its identification and notification.

• The conservation of a monument is a continuous process. Adequate resources (human and financial) should be made available to conserve it for posterity.

• Conservation of a monument should, under no circumstance, be based on any conjecture or artistic imagination and should be based on reliable documentary evidences (past conservation records, documents, paintings sketches, drawings, photographs, travelogues, etc.) or in-situ archaeological evidences.

• Conservation should be treated as a multi-disciplinary enterprise that focuses on developing holistic solutions against various agencies of decay and deterioration that are acting on the Comprehensive and careful study of all relevant aspects should be undertaken to develop an over-arching conservation philosophy and approach for each monument.

• The conservation of the original / historical material should be aimed as an essential pre-requisite to  sustain  the  time-dimension  of  a  monument  which  confirms  its antiquity and faithfully maintains its authenticity.

• Interventions such as restoration, consolidation, reproduction and retrofitting carried out within a monument should, as far as possible, be clearly discernible as a later alteration / repair / restoration, etc., to be able to clearly identify them from the original fabric of the struct Nonetheless, in certain cases, where a monument is being restored with the intention of merging [a new intervention] with the original fabric, for the sake of maintaining architectural integrity, work must be done very carefully by matching the original material / details in terms of form, colour and specification preferably through the use of same material and employing traditional skills as used in the original fabric. Such interventions should, as far as possible, be reversible in nature. The decision for achieving such objectives should be carefully recorded and documented for posterity.

Keeping in view these aspects a conservation wing was established in 1974 under the Department of Archaeology and Museums to facilitate the Conservation of monuments. The Conservationists who are very well trained have been in charge of the conservation work. The principles of conservation are strictly adhered to with a proper approach to the monuments in a comprehensive way such as structural repairs, chemical preservation and environmental protection.

Conservation of Works :

The conservation works are being taken up through various heads of accounts by the department by inviting e-tenders, after obtaining Administrative and Technical approval.  

Technical Advisory Committee:

In Government Order No.KASAMVA 94 KMU 2018 Dated:24.09.2018 the tenure of the committee consisting of Non-Official Members meant for giving expert guidance in the Conservation work is reconstituted and extended for a further period of 3 years from 01.04.2018 to 31.03.2020.

Conservation Through Public Private Participation (PPP):

• PPP concept along with Government (Public Private Participation) has been introduced for the purpose of conservation of monuments with an expenditure ratio.

• This venture has been in fact a great success. The Dharmastala Manjunatheshwara Dharmothana Trust is functioning as a strategic partner under the tutelage of Dharmadhikari Dr.Veerendra Hegde. It is being continued uninterruptedly.

• Under this project, 186 temple / monuments have been rehabilitated so far at a cost of Rs.22.01lakhs. Among these 170 works have been completed and remaining 16 works is in progress.

• The government has been released Rs. 880.52 lakhs by at a ratio of 40%. The remaining Rs.13.30crore will be borne by Shri Dharmasthala Trust and Temple Committee.

• Private Organizations are also allowed to partake in this venture. Individuals who are interested in the conservation and preservation of monuments can do so by obtaining prior permission from Department. Of course the investment for this purpose has to be borne by them. NRIs can also contribute and participate.

• The TVS Motor Company has taken keen interest in the conservation and preservation of monuments and successfully carried out the conservation of 1) Prasanna Krishnaswamy Temple and Lakshmiramana Temple in the Mysore Palace complex were partially taken care of by them by installing Dwajasthambas.  2)  The Mahabaleshwara Temple and Narayanswamy Temple atop Chamundeswari Temple  3) The Chamundeswari Temple Chariot House and Kysale and Garbhagudi of Sri  Chamundeswari Temple

• The Gunja Narashimswamy temple at T.Narasipura in Mysore District was conserved with the financial assistance of the Dr.Varadaraja Iyengar to the tune of Rs.2.00crore with their conservation experts and guidance imparted by this Department.

• The Hampi foundation headed by the Jindal Company successfully carried out the conservation of Sri. Chandramouleshwara Temple at Anegundi in Gangavathi taluk, Koppal District and Sri Sowmyasomeshwara Temple at Hampi in Hospet Taluk, Bellary District.

• Conservation of Sri Yoganarasimhaswamy temple at Melukote, Pandavapura taluk, Mandya District was sponsored by Smt. Sudha Janardhan, Bengaluru with an expenditure of Rs.75.00lakhs. The Conservation work was carried out by an experienced contractor under the guidance of Departmental Archaeological Conservation Engineer (South Zone) and Technical Advisory Committee. The work was completed.

• Conservation of Rajagopura of Sri Yoganarasimhaswamy temple at Melukote, Pandavapura taluk, Mandya district was sponsored by Sri Raveendra, the NRI with an expenditure of Rs.150.00lakhs. The Conservation work was carried out by an experienced contractor under the guidance of Departmental Archaeological Conservation Engineer (South Zone) and Technical Advisory Committee. The work was completed.

• Conservation and Restoration of Conservation of Panchakalyani, Ganesha Honda and adjacent tanks at Melukote in Mandya District with the financial assistance of the Infosys Foundation (Regd.), Bengaluru to the tune of Rs.6.00crore with their conservation experts work is under progress.