Conservation architects and other domain experts have pitched for preserving a late 19th century market in Mysuru and called for carrying out development projects while remaining “sensitive to the built heritage” of the city in Karnataka.

The historic Devaraja Market, constructed in the heart of the city in the 1880s by the Mysore royals, is facing an uncertain future for many years and marked for demolition for a redevelopment project, according to INTACH Bengaluru Chapter.

Seeking to highlight its architectural and historical value and to emphasise on preservation of historical markets, a series of events -- a symposium, a heritage walk and urban sketching -- was held in Mysuru on Saturday.

Hailed as a ‘heritage city’, Mysuru is dotted with iconic buildings largely constructed by the Wadiyars -- the royal family of the erstwhile Mysore State, including the Mysore royal palace, Lalitha Mahal Palace, old railway station, Mysore University building, and many other iconic landmarks.

During the symposium hosted by the Bengaluru Chapter of the Delhi-based Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) at the Wadiyar Centre for Architecture (WCFA), the current scion of the royal family, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar eloquently made a case for preserving the Devaraja Market, built by his ancestors.

Conservation of this market and other heritage buildings in Mysuru are integral to the identity of the city, he asserted in a virtual address at the event, according to a statement issued by INTACH Bengaluru Chapter.

Wadiyar, a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, the US, also suggested that “restoration” is important from the point of view of sustainability.

Preserving and reinvigorating built heritage is important so that the legacy can be passed to future generations, he had told PTI in 2018 and also advocated for preserving the built heritage of Bengaluru.

Other experts, including a structure engineer from Pune, concurred during the symposium that the Devaraja Market is a city icon, and “can be restored” and form a “nucleus” for insensitive development of Mysuru.

The theme of the discussion was ‘Markets as Living Heritage: The Case for Conservation and Revival’.

Sanghamitra Basu, a conservation architect who recently retired as a faculty from IIT, ?Kharagpur, said, “Conservation is not (an act of) mummification,” adding that amenities could be added to old structures with due sensitivity to the architectural fabric.

She shared the example of the restoration of Byward Market in Ottawa, Canada, which was to be demolished but when restored, it became one of the city’s major centres for both tourists and local economic activities.