131 more buildings in Puducherry get heritage tag

Puducherry Government notifies 131 heritage buildings in French and Tamil quarters, emphasizing cultural preservation and restoration efforts.

The Puducherry Government has notified the second list of 131 buildings in the French and Tamil quarters in the Boulevard as protected heritage buildings. They were notified as heritage structures based on the recommendations of the State-Level Heritage Conservation and Advisory Committee (SLHCAC).

After calling for objections and suggestions from the general public, the SLHCAC notified 118 private buildings and 13 religious buildings as heritage buildings.

The buildings have been graded as Grade II A (new construction may be allowed on the premises); Grade II B (horizontal and vertical addition and alternation may be allowed); and Grade III (where the structure has no architectural significance and demolition may be allowed).

The list includes 39 commercial buildings, 8 institutional buildings and 70 residential buildings among others.

The prominent Grade II A buildings included Vasant Villa, Hotel de l’ Orient, Cluny Embroidery Centre, Kuthbapalli mosque and temples such as Sri Kalatheeswarar, Sri Varadaraja Perumal, Vedapureeswarar, Kanniga Parameswari, and Kamatchiamman temple.

The first list of 114 buildings including 36 government-owned buildings and 9 French Government buildings, 60 ashrams and nine churches were notified by the Government as heritage structures in 2023. With this, a total of 245 buildings have been notified as protected heritage structures so far.

According to a heritage conservationist, “Puducherry has already achieved important milestones in heritage conservation.”