About WPD
India boasts a vast and exquisite collection of wall paintings that adorn its various heritage structures. However, many more wall paintings remain to be discovered. To address this need, the ‘Wall Painting Directory Project’ (WPD) was initiated in November 2015 under the Art and Material Heritage Division of INTACH. The project aims to conduct surveys and documentation of wall painting and rock art sites in the country. The project aims to document all the known and unknown wall painting sites around the country to raise awareness and promote emergency conservation. With many wall painting sites disappearing due to the demolition of old buildings, destruction of heritage towns, environmental changes and natural degradation, these sites must be precisely identified and recorded in the database for future reference. Moreover, documenting these wall painting sites will not only increase their heritage value but also provide a better chance of preservation and conservation.
The project has covered nine states since its inception, namely Delhi, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, and Odisha. Currently WPD team is actively surveying Bihar and Gujarat. So far, a total of over 11,954 sites has been surveyed, and 2,169 sites have been documented, covering an area of approximately 3,193,466.69 sq.ft.
The arduous research and documentation have led to the release of four publications, i.e., ‘Wall Painting Sites in Delhi’, the first volume of the series- ‘Wall Painting Sites of Rajasthan’ (Jaipur Edition), ‘Wall Painting Sites of Uttarakhand’ and ‘Wall Painting Sites of Himachal Pradesh’. The publications on ‘Wall Painting Sites in Rajasthan’ (Dhundhar and Marwar Region) and ‘Wall Painting Sites in Uttar Pradesh’ (Awadh Region) are in process.
Furthermore, WPD also takes immense pride in launching the ‘Directory of Museums in India’ in 2023, which is a compendium including information on 1186 museums existing across the country.
