All protected monuments in Karnataka will soon have a health card that profiles the heritage structures in entirety.

The Archaeological Survey of India is creating “monument health card” for all 129 protected monuments across the state.

This is the first time a comprehensive database of all monuments in its jurisdiction is being created by the Bengaluru circle of the ASI. While it will help document all the structures across 17 districts, it will also enable effective restoration or conservation efforts on priority. 

“While the annual inspection of monuments only studies if the monument is strong enough, this year, we have been asked to prepare a card for every monument with complete details of the monument,” said said ASI, Bangalore Circle superintending archaeologist Bipin Chandra Negi, as quoted.

The card will have a detailed profile of the monument from the architectural style, to the engineering aspects including material used for construction, the strength of the binding material to the status of the monument.

The card will also contain a brief history of the structure along with drone shots that give a glimpse into its current condition. 

As per officials quoted, the database, if updated every year, can also help check the degradation of the monuments annually and enable undertaking preventive measures at the appropriate time.

This will also help restore structures and avoid distortion.

“During restoration, if we have a brief history and architectural details along with the way it was constructed, we can redo the work using the same principles so that the design remains the same. This helps protect the uniqueness of the monument,” said INTACH conservationist architect Pankaj Modi, as reported.