New Delhi: The 19th-century Haveli Diwan Hari Chand in Kapurthala, Punjab, is going to be restored as a heritage centre to preserve manuscripts, oral histories and Gurbani Sangeet. The owners of the haveli have signed a 30-year memorandum of understanding with The Anad Foundation to turn the property into a “living centre for tangible and intangible heritage”.
It’s a significant partnership. It moves away from the recent trend—where heritage buildings are turned into luxury hotels. The MoU makes it clear that this project will not be for tourism, hospitality, or any commercial purpose.
The property will be used for performances of endangered South Asian musical traditions, particularly those linked to Gurbani Sangeet. Other planned projects include instrument-making and repair, archival of manuscripts, recordings and oral histories, research, workshops, retreats and residential study.
Another key project, part of the restoration, is the Anad After-School Studies Programme (AAS). Retired education professionals will teach students languages, humanities, critical thinking and ethical conservation. Anad’s Baldeep Singh called it a “modern smart classroom rooted in an old building”.
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Beyond commercial value
Located at 104, Shalimar Bagh Road in Kapurthala, the haveli was built around 1860 CE for Dewan Hari Chand, who was a senior statesman of the Kapurthala princely state. It was at this haveli that Sir Jagatjit Singh was born in 1872. Singh went on to become Maharaja of Kapurthala and the longest-serving ruler in British India. The property existed even before the Kapurthala municipality, and is known as the oldest haveli in the city. It is spread across approximately 2,983 sq. ft.
“This MoU is not about renting a picturesque old house,” said Bhai Baldeep Singh, Founder-Chairman, The Anad Foundation. “It is about demonstrating that a historic building can be restored in its own architectural language and then become a working home for endangered music, pedagogy, instruments, archives, and serious study, rather than simply being painted, lit and sold to tourism.”
Sanjeev Chopra, IAS (Retired), who signed the lease on behalf of the owner’s family, had announced earlier that he was going to turn the haveli into a library or an education centre. “I was clear that I did not want to see the house turned into just another commercial property,” he said, per the press release.
As per the agreement, the Anad Foundation is supposed to raise funds for restoration, prepare a conservation plan, and manage the property on a day-to-day basis for the next 30 years. The ownership of the haveli will remain with Chopra’s family.
“This initiative is not an after-retirement hobby. It is an extension of a life committed to ideas, institutions and public culture—now anchored in a place of personal heritage and memory,” said KBS Sidhu, IAS (retired), who brought Anad Foundation’s Baldeep Singh and Chopra together.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)