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On a grey winter afternoon, Aali Masjid, Srinagar’s second-biggest mosque, stood at a forlorn corner next to the historic congregational prayer ground of Eid Gah.

The mosque is temporarily closed to worshippers, for a renovation program – under the aegis of the Directorate of Archives, Archaeology and Museums – is underway to augment the 15th-century structure.

The works include a clutch of new additions – a khatamband ceiling to its front porch, fresh sheets of corrugated iron (entirely green in colour) on its roof, new wooden eaves, a concretised floor and more.

“We had initially planned to restore the traditional birch-bark roofing on the mosque but that couldn’t materialise,” a senior official, familiar with the details of the restoration work, told me. He didn’t specify the reason.

He said that the presence of stucco layering and brickwork flooring (on account of previous restoration efforts in 2007) had caused more moisture retention, leading to a process of decay. In order to reverse the erosion, a fresh restoration programme was approved last year, the official said on the condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorised to speak to the press.

However, heritage experts in Kashmir have responded with a sense of alarm to these works, arguing that the new changes, including the extensive use of cement, would speed up the seepage at the historic mosque.

“When cement is applied on the stone, the stone hardens, trapping the moisture inside,” Saleem Beg, convener at the Jammu and Kashmir chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) told me. When the moisture lingers for too long inside the walls “it corrodes the stone, as well as the structure.”

Beg also said that adding a new layer to a historical site that wasn’t originally there is against the principles of conservation. The mosque had a coffered vas-talav ceiling which has now been covered with khatamband panels, an interlocking grid of complementary wooden pieces.  

“Vas-talav was a major architectural element at the site that added a depth to its overall feeling,” Beg said. “That has been decimated.”

The new khatamband ceiling on the front porch of the mosque. Photo: Shakir Mir.

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