Hampi’s conservation and tourism will get a major boost with the announcement of acquiring 228-acres of private land at the cost of Rs.8.31 crore by Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

It indicates the Ministry is intent of making Hampi a major tourist destination keeping in mind the site’s recognition by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and its subsequent listing in Historical sites in Danger. The massive work of restoration by Karnataka state department of Archeology, the Hampi Foundation and Archaeological Survey of India cleared its name from the list. It joins 23 other sites in India, which have already been listed by the organization. Indian conservationists reacted enthusiastically to the news, proclaiming that their country’s heritage is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

In Asia, China and Vietnam have been aggressive in marketing their sites. The challenge for Indian authorities now is to translate the UNESCO listing into better management on the ground and to bring in more tourist dollars. People visiting World Heritage Sites expect world-class infrastructure. Angkor Wat in Cambodia - which has the distinction of having been listed by UNESCO both as a World Heritage Site and simultaneously included on the list of World Heritage in Danger 12 years ago - earns Cambodia a third of its foreign income. Tikal National Park in Guatemala raises $280 million a year, while Machu Picchu receives one million annual visitors. India is well equipped to benefit enormously, because it has sites dispersed throughout the country.

UNESCO recognition is by no means sufficient to protect a monument. The awards carry no direct financial reward and, once a site has been listed, its management is left to local authorities, despite the rigorous selection process. With 788 World Heritage sites around the world, UNESCO simply does not have the resources to monitor them after listing. A more serious threat is to Hampi, where the Karnataka State government has built two bridges across the river where the 14th-century site is located.

Anila Verghese, a Mumbai art historian who has written a book on Hampi, says:

It is the cause of great damage to the monument. They knocked down the fort walls in the process. People who manage such sites have not got their act together. There are plans for malls to be built just outside the site.

These developments prompted UNESCO to put Hampi on the list of World Heritage in Danger in 1999.

Chandraumalueshvara Temple is facing a number of immediate threats including:

• Collapsing gateways and fortification walls
• Deterioration of temple exterior/interior
• Misuse of temple for storage and refuse
• Animal and human feces
• Fire damage and scorching
• Water damage/leakage
• Plant growth and intrusion
• Looting and vandalism

After completing excavation and research in April, 2005, conservationist are undertaking stabilization of the foundation and waterfront ramparts, and conservation of the walls and roofs for the main hall and other sacred chambers enabling the conservation to focus on restoration of exterior and interior gateways, doorways, plazas, sculptures and stairways, and the perimeter fortification. A large number of structural components of the main temple, plaza area, gateways and are piled up around the temple and must be inventoried and analyzed to determine appropriate usage and placement, both for structural integrity and architectural and historical authenticity.

There exist serious problems in the current site designation, land use, and the implementation of cultural heritage policies and regulations at Hampi. Only a few monuments in the citadel area of Hampi were designated UNESCO World Heritage or National Heritage, where as the actual setting and the context was not. As well, recent research shows that many important monuments exist outside the protected area that are facing complete devastation, with many being used for building materials of modern structures within the town.

Primary Threats to Hampi World Heritage

Urbanization and Unplanned Development
Encroaching infrastructure and uncontrolled construction of buildings are a constant threat to Hampi as only 58 of the 550 total monuments hold heritage protection status. Encroaching urbanization continues to threaten the site as a result of the ever-increasing population and growing pressures from tourism. The most recent threat is a proposed new bridge across the Tungabhadra River.

Environmental Threats
Stone quarrying, ramped pollution, as well as encroaching agriculture currently threatens Hampi.

Lack of Cultural Resource Management
Hampi’s future is falling victim to the politics of three major controlling authorities (National, State and District) that work independently and parallel to each other.

SIGNIFICANCE - HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Hampi resides on the banks of the Thungabadra River with a backdrop of the majestic rock boulders was once capital of one of the largest Hindu Empires in Indian History. Founded in 1336, Hampi was the capital of an alliance of southern Hindu kingdoms that managed to hold off the invading Muslim armies for over two centuries.

The uniqueness of this site lies in vast area of monument complexes, the kingdom’s long reign as an advanced society and its unique architecture (which is Islamic for the secular buildings and purely Hindu for the religious structures). It has come to light in recent research that this capital city was actually the center of a large metropolitan region and not just a deserted city. Its fabulously rich princes built Dravidian temples and palaces that won the admiration of travelers between the 14th and 16th centuries until it was conquered by the Deccan Muslim confederacy in 1565, at which time the city was pillaged over a period of six months before being abandoned.