Walking down the beach promenade front will not be the same again. The fall of the iconic Mairie building, a prominent landmark of the French era, on Saturday leaves a huge gap in the ensemble of sea-facing heritage structures in this former French outpost.
The two-storeyed Mairie was not just another piece of impressive architecture, but a building steeped in history and culture.
It was, for instance, under its roof that the first signs of democracy was seen in this part of the world when the French here voted for elections to the Assembly in Paris as far back as 1871.
“It is difficult to explain the loss,” says historian Raphael Malangin, who had incidentally predicted the collapse of the building failing urgent intervention in an article for the Historical Review of Pondicherry (Revue Historique de Pondicherry) released earlier this year.
“Every major event of Pondicherry’s political history since the late 19th century took place here. It is not just an architectural loss, it is a loss to history,” he said.
The Mairie (Town Hall) had been witness to some glorious chapters during the French era and the post-Independence period. Considered a symbol of French colonial power, the French named the premises as Hotel De Ville (French synonym for city hall) which housed the office of Mayor of Pondicherry, the local Assembly, the Municipal Council, the Registry and other offices, including the office of Registrar of Births and Deaths.
The building housed the Legislative Assembly of Puducherry for four years from 1964 (when the first general election was held in the wake of de jure transfer of power) before the Assembly was shifted to the present premises in 1969. It was in this building that the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the extraordinary session of the Puducherry Representative Assembly on October 4, 1955. The eastern and western facade of the two-storied building features arcaded entrance verandas on high plinth accessed by a broad flight of steps clad in dressed granite. The first floor has coloured galleries and a large ceremonial hall with wooden flooring.
The ground floor in the two-storey building housed the Mayor’s office while the flight of steps that takes one to the central hall on the first floor had witnessed some important events. The central hall was mainly used for conducting civic receptions, music concerts and dance performances, and marriages. The elected civic body used to conduct the receptions with the Mayor presiding over the functions.
“While buildings have been listed as heritage in terms of archaeological and historical importance there is no law to prevent people or the government from pulling it down. Listing of heritage buildings doesn’t have any value if the government doesn’t have a law to protect such structures. Most of the states including Puducherry do not have a law to protect heritage buildings. The absence of heritage conservation is now being badly felt,” said a historian.
Heritage conservationists had repeatedly asked the government to take up the restoration of the Mairie building with urgency, including the late Ajit Koujalgi of INTACH. When World Heritage Day was observed in April this year, INTACH had listed the Mairie building as the foremost site which required immediate attention.
“Puducherry is crumbling. What will happen to the other historic buildings? The same fate could befall them too. We seem to have become a place for profit alone where there is no sense of common good to protect buildings for our history and culture,” says Mr. Raphael Malangin.
