Kavitha launches Hyderabad And Golconda Guide Book at Kalakriti Art Gallery

The Deccan Heritage Foundation, DHF, was launched in October 2011. Its goal is to preserve, restore and promote the heritage as well as the places of cultural importance in the Deccan region of India through cultural, conservation and educational projects.

The headquarters of the mother organisation is in London. Two more sister organisations are in India and New York. Headquartered in Mumbai is the Deccan Heritage Foundation India with its own board, and since last September The American Friends of the Deccan Heritage Foundation in New York.

All three organizations work closely together to achieve different goals which have inspired the creation of this organization more than three years ago.

Cultural projects
DHF’s guidebooks aim to promote awareness of outstanding historical sites and architectural monuments. The guidebooks are written by experts in the Deccan area, are attractively designed, generously illustrated and offer introductions to some of the Deccan’s most prestigious historical areas.

Published guidebooks:
George Michell, Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal, Mumbai, 2012
Helen Philon, Gulbarga, Bidar and Bijapur, Mumbai, 2012
George Michell, Hampi-Vijayanagar, Mumbai, 2012
Christopher London, Bombay Gothic, Mumbai, 2013
George Michell, Elephanta, Mumbai, 2013
Marika Sardar, Golconda-Hyderabad, 2015
Pushkar Sohoni, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Daulatabad and Khuldabad, 2015
Amita Kanekar, The Portuguese Fort from Bombay to Goa, 2015

In 2011, “Discovering the Deccan” co-authored by George Michell and Helen Philon along with panoramic photographs of Surendra Kumar was published in order to introduce the Deccan’s cultural heritage and architectural achievements to an international public.

Educational projects:
DHF has already successfully completed one educational pilot project in Mumbai. New venues are presently considered, one of which is in Goa and is connected to The Reis Magos International Festival of Music or RIFM.

The DHF India has also launched an annual lecture to be given in Mumbai at Jnanapravaha, and in Bangalore, and we hope for 2016 in Hyderabad. Professors and specialists on the Deccan are invited to introduce new research subjects pertaining to the various cultures that flourished in the Deccan.This year Professor Barry Flood from New York University will present new research and finds on “Relations between the Hoysala kingdom and Abyssinia”.

Restoration of the Qanat water system in Naubad, Bidar, Karnataka
The project pertains to Bidar, which was the capital of the Indo-Islamic kingdom of the Bahmani dynasty that ruled the Deccan from the middle of the 14th to the first quarter of the 16th century. It concerns the restoration and preservation of the qanat hydraulic system in Naubad, Bidar. This system was introduced by Iranian immigrants during the 15th century and adapted to the geological conditions of the Deccan with the help of the locals.

This project will involve the collaboration with the government of Karnataka and Heritage Cities Network that is associated with UNESCO.