In memoriam - Ajit Koujalgi

Ajit’s death came as a shock to many Aurovilians. They, as well as his colleagues at INTACH, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage Conservation, his friends and associates expressed a deep sense of loss.

Ajit graduated from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, in 1970 and joined Auroville in 1971. Initially, he worked with Roger Anger and was passionate about the Galaxy plan. But after eight years, when not much had materialised, he left to work in Germany. It was here that he came to appreciate the values of heritage buildings. When he returned to Auroville in 1987, he saw Pondicherry with new eyes and realized how beautiful it was with its distinct French and Tamil quarters. As there was not much work for him at the time in Auroville, he joined the Pondicherry chapter of INTACH. It ultimately became the main occupation of his wife Ratna and himself.

Over the years, Ajit often expressed concern about the general lack of interest in heritage conservation, both at government decision-making levels as well as in India’s schools of architecture, where India’s heritage is studied as being of historic interest without realising its relevance for the present. He called for heritage conservation to be made a mandatory topic, to be studied alongside the works of the great international masters.

Many Indian cities, he said, have no culture-specific cityscape left, and modern architecture is so universal that cities look all the same. He regretted that many works of modern architecture are isolated from the environment, glorifying the architect and his individual creativity, but not taking into account their relationship with the surrounding built environment. This, he felt, was a step back from the past where traditional cities present a ‘surround architecture’, a total experience where it is the whole that counts in a common pattern language and not the individual buildings. As he once wrote, “I haven’t been able to find any convincing example of modern architecture of say one square kilometre in extent that is a product of a collective work of several architects and builders who have not tried to outdo one another in their individual creativity, where each one has honed his creativity for the harmony of the larger whole. It is for this reason that I admire and cherish traditional towns – and feel there is a great deal to learn.”

When Ajit joined INTACH, the Pondicherry heritage was in a dismal state. Much of the Tamil heritage, more than 600 buildings that had been listed by INTACH along with the École Française d’Extrême Orient and the Institut Français de Pondichéry, had been razed to the ground, an irreparable loss for such a small city. Only a few small stretches of some streets in Pondicherry remained which still gave – and that only partly – an impression of the beauty of the past.

Ajit’s breakthrough came when the Indian Neemrana Hotels Group, famous for restoring and managing heritage hotels, purchased a dilapidated building in the French part of Pondicherry. It had served for more than 20 years as Pondicherry’s department of education and was totally run down. Ajit and Ratna got the assignment to restore it and turn it into a heritage hotel. Hotel de l’Orient, as the building was renamed, was opened in 2000. It was an eye-opener for the Pondicherry government. Almost all officials had visited the place before. Now they saw a small architectural jewel. It was a turning point in the history of heritage conservation in Pondicherry, and was awarded the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award in the year 2000.

In March 2002, the Asia Urbs conference happened in Auroville. Asia Urbs was a programme of the European Commission to foster partnerships between cities in Asia and cities in Europe. Shortly after the conference, Auroville helped in partnering Pondicherry with the Italian city of Urbino and the French city of Villeneuve-sur-Lot. Together with the Government of Pondicherry, and in partnership with these two European cities, an Asia Urbs project proposal called “Achieving Economic and Environmental Goals through Heritage Preservation Initiatives” was submitted and subsequently approved. The project, which aimed at restoring some heritage buildings and improving the urban environment in Pondicherry, also brought in the idea of promoting tourism through heritage protection. Hotel de l’Orient was a case in point.

This brought about a change in perception of politicians and bureaucrats who came to take the concept seriously. Under the project, the facades of 20 heritage houses on Calve Subraya Chetty (Vysial) Street were restored to their original grandeur and another ten heritage buildings were restored with matching grants. In February 2009, the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award of Merit 2008 was given to the Lt. Governor of Puducherry for the successful restoration of Vysial Street as a notable example for urban streetscape conservation.

When the Asia-Urbs project was at its end, INTACH shifted its attention to other projects in Pondicherry. The revitalization of Bharati Park in the middle of the French town which turned it into a pedestrian oasis was completed in January 2007. Other important restoration projects that INTACH completed were Le Café near the Gandhi statue on the Pondicherry beach road; the heritage hotels Maison Perumal, Palais De Mahé, and Gratitude Heritage Hotel and the iconic Indian Coffee House in Nehru Street.

Ajit and Ratna’s work was not restricted to Pondicherry. In neighbouring Cuddalore, INTACH became involved in the restoration of Government House, originally the residence of Robert Clive, one of the key figures in the creation of British India, and the Town Hall.

Another major project, stretching over many years, was the restoration of the former Danish colony of Tranquebar, now called Tharangambadi, a small coastal town 120 kilometres south of Pondicherry. The former collector’s bungalow was restored and turned into a 5-star heritage hotel, ‘The Bungalow on the Beach’. This was followed by the restoration of the Gatehouse, a large house next to the town’s historic entrance gate. Unexpectedly, the work was extended after 26 December 2004, when the tsunami struck. Financed by the Danish Bestseller Fund, which was interested in restoring the ancient Danish colony to its former glory, INTACH continued to restore many small and large houses, provided urban landscaping, created a small public park, and even organised a solid waste management project.

Ajit was a source of inspiration to all who worked with him. He was a man of strong beliefs and great determination, yet his manner remained quiet and deeply respectful even of those he disagreed with. This was one of the secrets of his success in turning the tide of heritage preservation in Pondicherry. His wife Ratna and his colleagues at INTACH will continue his work of sensitizing officials and populations to the historic significance of their cities and to the need for heritage conservation.