Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

From botany enthusiasts to social media influencers, everyone agrees Sunder Nursery is Delhi’s go-to spot to escape Covid blues.

Sunder Nursery is teeming these days.

New Delhi, Dec 19 (PTI) Delhi''s iconic Sunder Nursery, a 90-acre garden which was transformed into a horticultural paradise after a decade-long conservation work, is among the winners in the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation this year.
Also, Koothambalam at Guruvayoor Temple in Kerala''s Thrissur has been chosen in the Award of Distinction category.

Rahim’s tomb, Delhi’s own monument of love built nearly 50 years before the iconic Taj Mahal, which stood in a ruinous condition with a “risk of collapse” has finally received a new lease of life after six-year-long “monumental conservation” work.

A multi-disciplinary team of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), in partnership with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and support of a corporate conglomerate, worked extensively on the project which married traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology.

Hazar Imam at President's House, India 2008-05-13

The 49th hereditary Imam of Shia Ismaili Muslims, Aga Khan met President APJ Abdul Kalam in the capital on Wednesday at the sprawling Rashtrapati Bhawan

The 49th hereditary Imam of Shia Ismaili Muslims, Aga Khan met President APJ Abdul Kalam in the capital on Wednesday at the sprawling Rashtrapati Bhawan

ew Delhi [India]: The entry for Nila Gumbad at Humayun Tomb Complex in the national capital was opened on Saturday for the general public.
Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel opened the gate and also leads a morning walk at Humayun Tomb Complex as part of the Fit India Movement.

In 2017, Nila Gumbad was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Monument as part of the extended Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site.

By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Almost five years after its conservation, Neela Gumbad, the blue-tiled tomb in the 16th century mausoleum complex of Mughal emperor Humayun, is likely to be unveiled officially on Saturday.

According to officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel will inaugurate the ancient domed building on August 31 with two other projects — a new museum displaying retrieved and confiscated antiquities at Purana Quila and new-fangled illumination at Qutub Minar complex.

The 14th century baoli in the Kotla Feroz Shah complex is another example of a stepwell still in use. the decrepit well still waters the gardens.

Once important community spaces, stepwells from centuries ago needn’t just be relics of the past for tourists and history buffs but can be used to conserve water in these arid times, even with dipping groundwater levels, say conservationists and historians.

The Imam of the Shia Ismaili community, the Aga Khan, on Thursday said his Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) will work for the agriculture sector and rural support in Maharashtra.
Lauding the efforts of the state government for tribal development, the visiting spiritual leader said he will consider extending support to finish incomplete irrigation projects in Maharashtra and create livelihood opportunities for tribals in remote areas.

By Bill Gates
Can goats empower women?
In one of the poorest areas of India, they already are.
This is thanks to a new team of health workers who are training rural women how to gain financial independence by raising healthier goats.

The health workers are goat nurses known as “pashu sakhis,” which means “friends of the animals” in Hindi. Pashu sakhis are all poor women themselves who are given basic training in how to vaccinate, deworm, and provide other preventive care to goats in their community.

So, how does this help empower women?

New Delhi: The Aga Khan Foundation on Tuesday partnered with the German embassy, which will provide Rs 41.5 lakh for rebuilding of a traditional ‘baoli (water stepwell) in the Humayun Tomb’s complex here.

It was announced during the signing of a memorandum of understanding by Aga Khan Trust for Culture Chief Executive Ratish Nanda and the German envoy Martin Ney in the Mughal-era Arab Ki Sarai premises.

The Arab Ki Sarai, an Archeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monument, houses an out-of-use stepwell.

Hazar Imam meets with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India 2018-02-21

AT RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN

DELHI, INDIA,

JANUARY 12, 1983

Your Excellency,

I am delighted that this evening's most enjoyable dinner gives me the opportunity of thanking you publicly for the welcome which your Government, and in particular the Prime Minister and the officials concerned, have given us. My wife, my brother and I are all deeply touched by the warmth of our reception on this Silver Jubilee visit and are sincerely appreciative of the courtesies extended to us.

Hazar Imam arrives in New Delhi, India 2018-02-20

According to Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) listing of ancient structures in Delhi, Arab Sarai was built in 1560 by Hamida Banu Begum, who was chief consort of Mughal emperor Humayan, to accommodate 300 Arabs she had brought back from Mecca.

The lofty eastern gateway of a walled enclosure built in the 17th century — which was originally a market built during Jahangir’s reign along side Arab ki Sarai, Nizamuddin East — has been restored to its old glory.

The restorer, Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), began restoration work in January 2017.

ew Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The five-day general assembly of the global heritage body ICOMOS, hosted in the national capital this year, will begin tomorrow, at the end of which a Delhi Declaration is to be passed.

International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is a prestigious global non-government organisation which is dedicated to promoting the application of theory, methodology, and scientific techniques to the conservation of the architectural and archaeological heritage world over.

Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini, The Aga Khan IV with Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Lt. Governor Anil Baijal arrive for the inauguration of Sunder Nursery at Hazrat Nizamuddin in New Delhi

As many as 15 monuments dating back to 16th century nearby the majestic Humayun Tomb are now back to their splendour here in Nizamuddin area.

Along with this, a nursery spread in a 90-acre area, which houses these monuments, has also been transformed into a magnificent heritage city park.

The heritage park offers a unique blend of nature, culture and ecology.

Thanks to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), under which the monument restoration and city park development, work has been done in line with the those created by it in Kabul, Cairo, Mali and Zanzibar.