A place for technology transfer, digital survey and representation techniques: the ancient fort of Nagaur in Rajasthan, India

The existing layout of Ahhichatragarh fort was created in the 12th century in the ancient city of Nagaur, one of the first Muslim strongholds in Rajasthan, Northern India. The fort has been heavily altered over the centuries. The 25-year project for its rehabilitation (and still in progress), has involved the training of many artisans adhering to principles of minimum intervention. At the same time, several capacity building programmes were implemented in order to increase also the skills of professionals and experts of the conservation field. In this framework, in a research path carried out over 5 years, the main focus of the activities has been the evaluation of technologies to be applied to Indian Cultural Heritage. The pilot projects and investigations carried out by international teams aimed at identifying functional methods for the analysis, representation and diagnosis of the architectural heritage of the complex. The fort requires continuous monitoring and planning of interventions aimed at the preservation of its historical value. This might be more efficiently accomplished exploiting the advantages offered by new technologies, such as non-invasive analysis and digital techniques for heritage enhancement, tools that are not yet functionally integrated in the conservation processes in India. As required by local partners, the project was based on a wide range of records and it has been able to produce different research outputs.