Abstract
This paper investigates how the state of Maharashtra fulfils its constitutional mandate for heritage conservation within a pluralistic legal and institutional framework. While the central government governs only the national monuments, Indian states like Maharashtra oversee a complex and often fragmented heritage landscape that includes state-protected monuments, World Heritage Sites, urban heritage, and vernacular sites. The paper traces the layered legal and administrative apparatus that shapes heritage governance in Maharashtra and highlights the influence of colonial-era laws, postcolonial federal dynamics, and the ontological politics of heritage. Through a detailed case study of Raigad Fort—recently inscribed as part of the Maratha Military Landscape World Heritage Site—the paper demonstrates how multiple institutions, including the Archaeological Survey of India, Directorate of Archaeology, Raigad Development Authority, district-level bodies, and grassroots collectives (Gad Premi), coexist and contest authority over heritage. The analysis reveals that heritage in Maharashtra is not only regulated and preserved through statutory means but is also continuously redefined through affective practices, local activism, and political mobilization.
Prajakta Divekar
Research Fellow at Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune