US NGO pitches in to restore 140-yr-old legacy in Rajasthan’s Udaipur

A 140-year-old haveli in Udaipur, owned by the Bachhawat Mehta clan and built by military commander-in-chief of the erstwhile princely state of Mewar in Rajasthan, is being restored using the same material that was used during its construction. Lime plaster, which was up to 70 millimetres in thickness, gave the artistic finishing touch called ‘ghutai’ or ‘arraish’ in local dialects,” said Malvika, who belongs to the seventh generation of the Bachhawat Mehta clan. “The current form of defective lime-based practices also led to a loss of faith in lime as a viable building material,” she added. According to Dr Thirumalini, an associate professor of civil engineering department at VIT, the team from the university collected samples of existing lime plasters and concrete and conducted several advanced analysis and micro-structure studies to identify the type and properties of the material used in the construction over 140 years ago. “The objectives,” he said, “was to characterise old and existing lime plasters from the site and simulate them with the currently available building materials.” “The original material was re-engineered and applied for restoration of the haveli.