If Chandannagar had a pulse on Friday evening, it was beating right along the Strand. The promenade shimmered with lights, India and French flags popped up at every turn, students and artistes brought the space alive with performances, and residents turned up in numbers to be part of a moment that felt as much like a festival as an inauguration. Diplomats, government officials and locals came together as the town celebrated the beginning of work on the long-awaited Registry building – a fresh lease of life for its heritage, tourism and enduring French connection.Last December, in an exclusive, CT was in Chandannagar with the Consul General of France in Kolkata, who said the Registry building project was particularly close to his heart. This time, we returned to the same town to see that anticipation turn into action.
The Registry Building is part of our collective future. The project waited for us to recognise that some buildings are meant to be understood and brought back to life– Thierry Mathou, French ambassador to India
‘Heritage shouldn’t be frozen in time’Fifteen years ago, the Registry Building looked like it had given up on itself — trees growing through a collapsed roof, a demolition order hanging over it since 1994. Heritage conservationist Aishwarya Tipnis, associated with the project from the start, recalled: “When I first saw the registry, it had these trees growing through it. Its entire roof had fallen. And it was a perfect location to shoot a horror movie.”What followed was a 15-year effort — including workshops and a collaboration between 32 Indian and French students – to reimagine the space not as a museum but as a living cultural hub: a tourist information centre, library, retail space, co-working facilities, multipurpose halls, a café and rooms to stay. “The last thing we needed was a museum,” Tipnis said.Restoration meant retaining the building’s original timber elements, doors and windows while adding a contemporary extension inspired by Chandannagar’s architectural vocabulary, including its signature timber louvres.
‘Tourism is not just about seeing, it is about what you feel’Shankar Ghosh, minister of Tourism and Parliamentary Affairs, framed heritage as an experience rather than something merely observed. “Tourism is just not seeing. It’s not just observing the thing. It’s what you feel, what your heart feels,” he said. He backed the French festival proposal: “Hopefully we will celebrate the French Festival in Chandannagar from next year with the cooperation of the French government.”‘Heritage is not only nostalgia’: France sees Chandannagar as a bridge to the futureMathou pointed to Chandannagar’s streets and buildings as living traces of its French past, adding, “Heritage is not nostalgia alone.” He envisioned student exchanges, academic and cultural cooperation, French-language courses, and heritage- and tourism-led enterprises ahead, urging that local residents become “the custodians and the beneficiaries of their remarkable heritage.”I have proposed to the Tourism Minister for an annual French festival in Chandannagar next year– Thierry Mathou, French ambassador to IndiaThe design is to add a new layer & story, while building on the past for a new future. A café on the veranda, a library and a co-working space is also planned– Aishwarya Tipnis