Conservation of Heritage Monuments: A case study of Solasinghi Fort and surrounding monuments in Bangana area, Una, Himachal Pradesh

‘Geoheritage’ refers to important geological heritage having significant scientific, educational, aesthetical, cultural and economic values for human. It helps in understanding the past civilizations and progressive development from ancient times to present. Hence, such heritage sites are need to be preserved, conserved and renovated for present as well as future generations.

The International Commission on Geoheritage (ICG) is a part of International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) which aims at recognition of geological heritage sites, geo-collections and heritage stones for their database generation and maintenance, followed by promotional and educational purposes. ICG comprises of three subcommisions among which sub commission on heritage stones deals with identification and characterization of natural stones used in historically significant buildings and monuments, its historical quarries and recognition of stone-built monuments.

From India, several heritage stones such as Makrana Marble, Jaisalmer limestone, Jodhpur sandstone and many more have been reported. These stones have been used in establishment of historically significant monuments such as Mehrangarh fort, Taj Mahal, Umaid bhawan etc. However, no attention has been given to the historically important monuments in northern India. This study is aimed at highlighting monuments in Bangana area of district Una in Himachal Pradesh.

Several historical forts and temples, such as Solasinghi Fort, Solasinghi Temple, Chaumukha Temple, Shiv Temple Jarola, and Baba Balak Nath Temple are present in Bangana area. Among them, Solasinghi fort is an important monument built during the 19th century. It is made up of plastered sandstone bricks. Similar sandstone blocks are used for building other monuments in the area. The sandstone belongs to the middle Shiwalik. It is a grey coloured fine-grained sandstone and is hard and compact. Mica flakes are easily visible.

The sandstone mainly consists of mainly quartz, feldspar, muscovite and rock fragments. Quartz grains are angular to sub-rounded with either irregular or smooth grain boundaries. Silica and microscopic biotite flakes make up the matrix, which makes up around 5–10% of the volume of the rock. Silica cement is present. Even though the stone is not aesthetically appealing but due to its local availability and durability, it was used for the building these monuments.

Currently, these monuments are in a dilapidated state. They have been left abandoned and are adversely affected due to natural and anthropogenic activities. Conservation of these monuments and historical buildings is a matter of serious concern. No attention is given to these monuments and buildings by the authorities for the conservation of these heritage sites.

This work mainly focuses on the evaluation of the present condition and preservation of these heritage monuments. The study will provide some suggestive measures for the protection of these heritage structures using modern techniques and machinery, keeping in mind the building material to maintain the originality.

Keywords: Heritage Monuments, Conservation, Geoheritage