Editorial: Shimla’s Heritage, Left Under Covers
Shimla,Oct. 02 Ritanjali Hastir
Shimla has a Heritage Committee to decide what belongs on its historic Mall. Yet the Seven Wonders replicas arrived first, and the heritage question came later.
Today, the much-publicised structures lie covered and abandoned, looking less like an ambitious public-art project and more like an unfinished scrapyard. For a city whose visual character is one of its greatest attractions, it is an extraordinary sight.
The State Heritage Committee had not cleared their installation on the Mall and Ridge, yet the replicas were brought into this sensitive public space. Weeks later, they remain covered, unattended and increasingly a subject of mockery on social media.
The ₹1.02-crore “Waste to Wonder” project was meant to transform discarded material into something creative. Instead, its current state raises a basic question: what does any of this have to do with Shimla?
The disconnect becomes particularly striking when you hear foreign visitors talking about the city. Some come to Shimla not merely as holidaymakers, but because of its colonial past, family histories and connections to ancestors who once lived, worked or served here. They walk the Mall looking for the Shimla they have read about, heard about from their families or come halfway across the world to reconnect with.
And then they encounter replicas of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Christ the Redeemer of Rio de Janeiro standing in the middle of that historic landscape. Foreign visitors have been heard questioning why these structures are here and what connection they have with Shimla or the Simla they know.
The contrast could hardly be sharper: they have travelled across continents to find traces of their connection with Shimla, only to find landmarks imported from somewhere else.
Near Aashiana, the irony becomes harder to miss. The Leaning Tower of Pisa replica has reportedly become a convenient place to stuff wrappers and rubbish. A project promoted around recycling has ended up adding to the visual clutter.
The Municipal Commissioner had said the structures would be removed soon. More than half a month later, they are still there.
They should now be removed from the Mall and Ridge without further delay. If the administration wants to retain them, let them be shifted to a suitable location after proper planning and the necessary approvals.
Shimla already has a story worth telling—and visitors are coming here precisely to find it.
The city should not make them look past abandoned replicas to discover their Shimla.
Samagra Sikhsha
