Pondicherry’s Hotel de Ville – Worse than I thought….
Posted: January 5th, 2015 | 1 Comment »Shortly before the end of last year I blogged on Pondicherry in the former French controlled part of India and preservation issues. Thanks to everyone for comments – however it appears that things are far worse than I suspected – basically the former Hotel de Ville is not simply damaged but basically destroyed, as the photos below taken this week indicate clearly.
To paraphrase some current visitors and those more familiar with the city than me it seems that while Pondicherry is a truly remarkable place, and its French architectural legacy is genuinely special, just how it garnered any accolade for “heritage preservation” is mystifying. Of course anyone who has seen how easily UNESCO hand out awards in China and then fail to do any follow up or apply any sanction on post-award destruction, will be familiar with this!! This has been a global UNESCO failing for many years now. Pondicherry, it seems to be agreed, does have a handful of truly beautiful old buildings, but they are decayed, closed and rotting in the hot sun. Several have been smashed down completely. Those that have been renovated have been done so with an unnecessarily heavy hand. “Preservation” is not the correct word, as they have been restyled with little regard to the original architectural nuances – windows and door frames have been replaced with cheap copies and the entire facades have been slathered in a thick layer of new concrete and then painted in garish colours.
Oh well…but for the record here’s the Hotel de Ville….
We have just come back from there. It’s a vibrant and fascinating place and, as you say, there are fine buildings and not-so-fine. I suppose there is just not the money to pay for the conservation. Your photos of the Hotel de Ville show exactly its current state.