Restoration of colonial buildings that are more than a century-old inside the 16th century fort in Vellore commenced a few days ago.
Officials of ASI, Vellore Circle, said that initially the two colonial buildings were used as Conservator of Forests and taluk offices until a decade ago before they were moved to new buildings after which restoration work has been taken up.
“Restoration is a laborious process as the idea is to restore the building to its original splendour. So, we are taking only a few buildings that need immediate attention at present,” said S. Ramarao, Conservation Assistant (CA), ASI (Vellore).
With its beautiful arches and Madras roofing, the Indo-saracenic styled buildings were once office quarters of the British officers, who were stationed inside the fort to guard Mysore rulers, Hyder Ali and his warrior son, Tipu Sultan’s large families. Like the 56 colonial buildings, these two structures were also built with traditional lime and mortar methods.
Renovation work on Colonial buildings inside the Fort under way in Vellore on Friday. | Photo Credit: C. VENKATACHALAPATHY
Over the years, these buildings were left to the elements, damaging the roof, walls and pillars. Thick vegetation has led to cracks on its walls and roof. Plastering on the floor was eroded, exposing sand on its top layer.
Last April (2022), Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian, ASI and Vellore Corporation officials inspected the buildings inside the fort as part of a restoration plan. The idea is to convert the fort into a tourist hub. Accordingly, an expert team was set up to give guidelines for restoration. After getting necessary nod from ASI headquarters at New Delhi for funds, restoration of these buildings has started now.
As per plan, damaged roof, especially its Madras roofing will be restored with teak wood joints with burnt bricks laid on lime mortar. Such a flat terrace provides better light, ventilation, more fire resistance and architectural appearance to the building.
Cracks on walls will be plastered with lime stones that would be sourced from Virudhunagar. The roof flooring will be relaid with terrace tiles (Nattu odu) from Rajapalayam, Pannaivellam and Kadukakai from Kalugu Malai in south Tamil Nadu. This helps to absorb excessive heat and keep the moisture intact inside the building. The entire work will be completed before the northeast monsoon.
At present, offices of sub-treasury, PWD, police and forest department are located inside the fort, which covers around 135 acres with a moat.
