 Hello everyone, this is Amitabh Gupta from West Bengal, Wikimedia User Group. I thank Wikimedia Foundation for giving me the opportunity to speak in Wikimania 2021. I will be speaking about documenting build heritage in rural West Bengal for Wikimedia Commons. Before I start the lecture, I would like to mention that I have been documenting build heritage in rural West Bengal, which is in India for West Bengal user Wikimedia users group funded by a rapid grant of Wikimedia Foundation. So before we start, let us first understand what exactly it is a build heritage. So build heritage can be a mansion, can be a structure, can be the remaining site of ancient monument, it can be a temple, it can be a church, it can be a old house, it can be anything which has got aesthetic, architectural or cultural significance and that is a build heritage. And over here, it is very important to note that the cultural landscape around this build heritage site is also a part of it. Usually a build heritage over 100 years old, which has been constructed using local materials and lime motors and not cement or concrete is called a build heritage. For example, I will give you an idea about the what is exactly a cultural landscape. Say this is a temple, this is a almost 200 years old temple in the heart of rural West Bengal and you can see it is surrounded by trees and it is in an open field. In otherwise, it is in its own natural landscape, which is its cultural landscape. Now for example, suppose you built a concrete building over there and just giving a small sketch. Say for example, this is a building. So this, if you are building a concrete structure or a modern structure just besides to this temple, it is basically an obstruction to cultural landscape. This does not fit here in simple times. So it is an obstruction to cultural landscape. The temple is important and its surrounding is also important. Now, why do we need to document rural build heritage? Because you see these are structure which serves essential witness over past, I mean if you look at the bricks, the bricks in which they have been built, the designs, the architectures. These are of a time which has passed away and such structures are difficult, almost impossible to build now. And some of them they form a part of our daily life in such a manner we do not pay heed to their importance. I mean in our city, I stay in Calcutta, there are water taps made of cast iron of the British era in different lanes of the city. Hardly any of us think that it is a built heritage because it is a part of our daily life. And if this is the condition in a city, imagine what is the condition is in the rural area. And all over the world from 1970s, there has been rapid socio-economic changes. It has resulted in modification, demolition of several rural heritage due to lack of awareness and people simply do not know, people do not have an idea. Everything does not come in the news and documenting rural architecture is required for the first thing to make a list of built heritage which needs protection. I exactly do not know what other countries, but in India we have a very small list of protected monuments by the State Archaeological Department and the ASI or the Archaeological Survey of India that is a very small. I will just give you an example, there is basically there are two over 2000 temples in West Bengal over 2000 temples. And that is just an understatement because I also really do not know what is the exact number, it is around 2000. It is not possible for government to give protection to 2000 temples because many of them does not know where are they. So the first thing we need to make a list, a list which is available online to everybody and anybody and it is not that we document it once and forget about it, repeated survey and repeated investigation is required. In rural areas for conservation and management, I mean if someone has to conserve and monument he has to know for that is exist, he has to seize condition, it is not possible always to go in person and people does not know also. And over the years due to lack of knowledge there has been changes in the built heritage which also reflects that change in society. Now I will share with you something very interesting that is a panel, a terracotta panel in a Hindu temple. This was on the left you can see the original panel how it looked like 1793 it was built and this photograph is taken in 2011. You can see since it is built with terracotta bricks the color is the same, there is a beautiful 3D effect as if you can feel that the boat or the figures they are coming out of the panel. In 2019 local bodies made a conservation, they put a chemical paint on it in the name of preservation and you can see if I did not have this earlier photographic document nobody would have any idea how it actually looked. And by this painting they have already I mean killed the material because these terracotta material they are porous the water used to pass through them and these are what known as breathable buildings. The moment you paint them you are closing the pores the water inside will stay and one day this whole panel this whole beautiful panel will collapse. Now why do we want to document for Wikimedia Commons? Because Wikimedia Commons one can upload photographs of such rural built heritage based on area location type I mean you can basically upload photographs in a methodical manner. But if anybody wants to look for something they can find out and by anybody I mean researchers academician conservationist and even those who are writing for Wikimedia they can take media from here and we have been conducting Wikie exploration program on behalf of West Bengal Wikimedia user group and that helps in locating and documenting such built heritage in details. This is how it looks when you do a proper documentation and if you search in Wikimedia Commons for example terracotta temples of Bakuda district because they are uploaded district wise type wise. So if you type terracotta temples of Bakuda district they will show all the temples of that particular area. If you type by style they will show you that particular style so that is a proper documentation online available for everybody. This can be done in other countries also in similar manner and I will just use West Bengal or rural West Bengal as a case study. So this is West Bengal and this is a district wise map and these all different different multiple colours are each one of a district. So Bakuda is a district, Mosidabad is a district, Kojbihar is a district so if we can document district wise it will be more systematic. So basically the steps for rural heritage documentation is very simple. You list down the present district of the state then you take a list of the built heritage in each district and how you will take the type say a temple had five pinnacles you are looking for five pinnacle temples in particular district. You note that down make the location how do you get these locations. So first you look what is listed the protected monuments with the state and the central government. Though that will be not a big number but now you have got general unutilised monument, their unlisted monument, there are very old literatures books written in say 1970s 60s they I mean is our reference and local source. Then we we have to plan a days that how you photograph a district wise each location and you have to get hold of local contacts because you are coming from the city you are not very sure about the you know the location of the temples. Most important you do not even know whether it exists or not mind it the last time they were documented was 1970 many of them may not still exist. And then using the Wiki Exploration program you go on the work and the process is continuous and one thing you need to know a basic to advance knowledge about build heritage. This is a sample documentation of a temple see this is showing the build heritage first the structure itself then you take a documentation the cultural landscape that shows that there is a concrete building on the back. And then you take details of the build heritage showing all the terracotta panels which showcases you know since from mythologies from social life. And then when you upload in a wiki media comments this is the way you upload you give a description you take telling details about the temple who made it where it is located and you give its coordinates so that is easier for someone to locate it. I will give a quick view of the samples of build heritage documentation which we have been doing for example this is a terracotta plaque of a temple arch showing some mythological scene from the famous Hindu epic Ramayana which is like some sort of you can compare with odc and it is a life of Krishna. This is a very significant panel shows European with guns which gives you an idea about their presence of their rule in India that has been reflected as a part of social culture. This is a terracotta work not on a temple but on a mosque when the Mughals started building mosques they did not know how to make design in brick so they bought all the Hindu art artitions and they made all this design on a mosque. These are for example one is a stone build mirab inside a mosque and this is where the Imam prays and this is a brick build different kind and these are as you can see since this is a mosque this is a brick design but these are all floral design no figures. Similarly I am going to show you that other than the buildings there are also statues of eight nine centuries lying inside broken temples lying undocumented unnoticed and if we are putting this up in Wikipedia and comments it is very very easier for anyone to see it. Oh of course state government makes have made makeshift arrangement of such statues of and on but the number of such museums are very less. Other than the mosque and temples there are mansions of the landlords like this is one and this is some decorative element they used to make false windows and they used to put usually a woman figure as you waiting for her husband and finally these are the European influence on some mansion in different district and after you put up the detailed photography in Wikimedia Commons it looks something like this with all details and anybody who is interested in a temple can get every nook and corner of the temple sitting just in his home in Wikimedia Commons and if you are interested to build up the exploration team to document rural build heritage in your area in your country you simply need a guide who have requisite knowledge on build heritage and you need some volunteers who can plan the documentation step by step and you also of course you will be needing to volunteer volunteers we are willing to and are capable of documenting photography and then they will be uploading them to Commons and people can see them. So I hope you like my smart lecture thank you for your time have anybody has any questions I can answer them all I want to say is if there is such more documentation of rural heritage in every country and every area that is going to help the conservationist the archaeologist and similar kind of people in similar line and Wikimedia Commons can always be a ready forum for such documentation I hope in other countries I would see Wikimedians being involved in similar projects and we will see similar documentation in Wikimedia Commons of rural heritage of other countries. Okay thank you for listening to me and thank you for taking your time I hope you enjoyed the show and I hope in next Wikimania we will be busy viewing each other live and not in the virtual world thank you thank you very much.