November

The Krishna Temple at Kishankot was built in the early 19th century. The temple is located on the principal market spine in the village. It was the private temple of General Chaju Mal of Maharani Sada Kaur’s court.

The temple is built of brick in mud mortar and lime plaster. It houses the most exquisite wall paintings depicting scenes from the life of Lord Krishna, Bhakti Saints, the Sikh Gurus, and Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The building was being looked after by the local community and needed urgent attention.

The work included conservation of the buildings, consolidation and cleaning of the wall paintings. The local community was trained in preventive conservation of the temple and its wall paintings. This project was awarded the Award of Distinction, UNESCO-Asia Pacific 2001 Awards in the international competition on architectural conservation.

It achieved this distinction because it validated “the important role that the conservation of shared heritage has in generating community involvement. The restoration was approached not just as a conservation project, but as a community-strengthening endeavor, by reintroducing the traditional construction techniques and materials, and transferring this technical knowledge and appreciation to the local villagers (to) ensure the future sustainability of the temple.” Contractors: CRCI.

Title of Project Krishna Temple, Village Kishankot, District Gurdaspur Owner Temple Trust, Village Kishankot Funding Agency UNESCO, UNDP-UNV and Archaeological Survey of India Caretakers Krishna Mandir Temple Trust, Village Kishankot Year of Commencement 1999 Year of Completion 2000