Decolonising Heritage in South Asia : The Global, the National and the Transnational / edited by Himanshu Prabha Ray.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. -- Introduction -- --Himanshu Prabha Ray -- Part I: World Heritage Sites and Cartographies -- 2. One World, Two Missions: UNESCO World Heritage in the Making -- --Lynn Meskell -- 3. Valuation of World Heritage -- --Indira Rajaraman -- 4. The Multivalence of Landscapes: Archaeology and Heritage -- --Uthara Suvrathan -- Part II: Case Studies of World Heritage Sites in India -- 5. Monumentality, Nature and World Monuments: The Rock-cut Sites of Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta in Maharashtra -- --Pia Brancaccio -- 6. Re-movable Heritage: Nalanda Beyond the Mahavihara -- --Salila Kulshrestha -- 7. The Qutub Minar Complex and the Village of Mehrauli: Multiple Meanings in Monuments -- --Swapna Liddle -- Part III: Transnational Heritage -- 8. Beyond World Heritage: Lumbin The Creation of a More Meaningful Site? -- --Max Deeg -- 10. The Implementation of Tri Hita Karana on the World Heritage of Taman Ayun and Tirta Empul Temples as Tourist Attractions in Bali -- --I Wayan Ardika -- 11. Transnational Heritage: Building Bridges for the Future -- --Himanshu Prabha Ray --

This volume cross-examines the stability of heritage as a concept. It interrogates the past which materialises through multi-layered narratives on monuments and other objects that sustain cultural diversity. It seeks to understand how interpretations of "monuments" as "texts"are affected at the local level of experience, even as institutions such as UNESCO work to globalise and fix constructs of stable and universal heritage. Shifting away from a largely Eurocentric concept associated with architecture and monumental archaeology, this book reassesses how local and regional heritage needs to be balanced with the global and transnational. It argues that material objects and monuments are not static embodiments of culture but are, rather, a medium through which identity, power and society are produced and reproduced. This is especially relevantin South and Southeast Asian contexts, where debates over heritage often have local, regional and national political implications and consequences. Reevaluating how traditional valuation of monuments and cultural landscapes could help aid sustainability and long-term preservation of the heritage, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers ofSouth and SoutheastAsian history, heritage studies, archaeology, cultural studies, tourism studies and political history as well.

Also available in print format.