History

Heritage Trust was formed in Baroda in 1984 by like-minded architects, artists, art historians, archaeologists, historians, museologists and writers interested in conservation of different kinds of heritage of the city. The creation of awareness of heritage and related issues is the focus of the Trust. While it was decided that the Trust undertake city-centred programmes, the only exception was the Champaner-Pavagadh project.

Champaner-Pavagadh, 40 kms from Baroda, is the once prosperous medieval capital of Gujarat, that we found was completely neglected and what’s more, dangerously threatened by the operation of more than 100 stone quarries in its immediate vicinity.

It is with a sense of great pride and achievement that we can announce today that the Trust’s efforts over the last 18 years have culminated in Champaner-Pavagadh being selected as India’s nomination for World Heritage Site status in the year 2004.

Heritage Trust is registered as a Trust with the Charity Commissioner and eligible for exemption under section 80 (G) of the Income Tax Act. It is also registered with the FCRA and eligible to receive funding from foreign sources.

Executive Committee

Executive Committee

  • Radhikaraje Gaekwad
    Radhikaraje Gaekwad Patron
  • Sameer Khera
    Sameer Khera President

    Sameer Khera – President, Heritage Trust ; Managing Director – SEE LINKAGES PVT LTD, Co Chairperson – Vadodara Marathon & Chairperson – Baroda Citizens Council

  • Sameer Gaikwad
    Sameer Gaikwad Vice President

    Sameer Gaikwad, Vice President – Heritage Trust, and Director of Doble Engineering Pvt Ltd.

    He is also a Sportsperson, Amateur Astronomer and Photographer

    Facilitator – Stepwells project

     

  • Rati Desai
    Rati Desai Honorary Treasurer

    Rati Desai, Honorary Treasurer – Heritage Trust, Baroda, since 2015.
    Ex Vice President & Chief Manager with a Multinational Bank, with over 25 years of total work experience. Currently associated with a number of NGO’s, in a honorary capacity, like Gujarat Nature Conservation Society and Society for Clean Environment.

  • Arati Desai
    Arati Desai Honorary secretary

    Arati Desai : Art curator, writer and educator

  • Jaideep Verma
    Jaideep Verma Jt. Secretary

    Lawyer with multiple social and cultural affiliations.
    Teacher, author, sportsperson and animal lover.

Governing Council

This information is being updated at this time.

Timeline

Timeline

2021
Dec 25

Cycle Ride

The Heritage Trust of Baroda planned a cycle ride covering a 15 km loop in the city visiting some heritage structures invisible to plain sight and a few stepwells. This ride was guided by Sameer Gaikwad. Starting from The cyclists resumed their homebound journey after 2.5 hours of immersion in..Read More

Nov 27

Heritage Week 2021

The Heritage Trust ended the National Heritage Week event calendar with a talk, Being Raja Ravi Varma, by illustrated author Mr. Vikrant Pande. This event was hosted by the Alembic group at the Alembic City Amphitheatre on the 27th of November in the evening. Apart from having written several well..Read More

Nov 17

The coin story

The Coin Story – A Walk Through at the Coin Museum : Displaying close to 10,000 coins, including many that date back to 6th century BC, Shri Mudra Nidhi Coin Museum is located near the Ajwa-Nimeta Garden. This museum is said to be one of the country’s first private coin..Read More

Apr 15

Online lecture

The Heritage Trust went digital by organizing it’s first ever online lecture in association with the School of Environmental Design & Architecture, Navrachana University to celebrate the World Heritage Day 2021. Titled ‘Stepwells of Ahmedabad : Water, Gender and Heritage’ the lecture was delivered by three young scholars namely Priyanka..Read More

Feb 10

Heritage Walk

A heritage walk was organised to Dharmaj to learn and appreciate the old Kahadki’s, Pol’s and Bhavan’s of that town that also has an old African connection.

Jan 10

23 Grams of Salt

Mr Anuj Ambalal gave a talk on his book “23 Grams of Salt” that traced the journey retracing Gandhiji’s walk from Sabarmati to Dandi.

2020
Dec 15

Heritage Tour

A group of over 10 cycling enthusiasts got an opportunity to explore the iconic heritage structures around the city. It was initiated & organised by The Cycling Club of Baroda along with Smart City of Baroda initiative led by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. The ride was conducted and led by..Read More

Nov 17

Vadodara Peoples Heritage Week

The Vadodara Peoples Heritage Week was ushered in with great enthusiasm. The Heritage Trust organised two walks. One was around the Kirti Mandir and its precincts and the other was at the Kamnath Mahadev temple complex along the ghats of Vishwamitri river – both led by Mr Chandrashekhar Patil.

Feb 09

Culinary Delights Bohra Culture

The fourth edition of the Culinary Delights of Vadodara celebrated the Bohra Culture of Vadodara and was titled the ‘Alavi Bohra Badri Mohalla’ walk. The walk was led by Dr. Bhaisaheb and was conducted on 9th February, 2020. The walk explored the culture of the Bohra community at the Badri..Read More

Jan 03

Culinary Delights

The third edition of the Culinary Delights of Vadodara celebrated the Christian cuisine and traditions. The event was titled ‘Christmas Spirit of Baroda’ and was held on 3 rd Jan 2020. The event started with a walk exploring the churches of Baroda such as the Rosary Church, St. James Church..Read More

2019
Nov 23

Food Walks

Two food walks led by Mr. Adil Marawala titled ‘Merchants of Memories’(Vegetarian) and ‘Baroda Triangle’(Non vegetarian) were organized on 16th and 23rd Nov 2019 respectively. The walks explored the different areas of the city and introduced the people to the food culture of Baroda.

Nov 17

National Heritage Week 2019

As a part of the National Heritage Week 2019 as many as 8 different events were organized. The first of these was the exhibition titled ‘India through European Eyes : A collection of original prints from the 18th and 19th Centuries’ which was displayed at the Faculty of Fine Arts..Read More

Sep 01

Culinary Delights of Vadodara

The Trust started a series of events titled the ‘Culinary Delights of Vadodara’ which introduces the people to the local food culture. The first of these was a Parsi Dinner which was held on September 1st 2019 at the Cooverbai Hall in Parsi Agiary, Sayajigunj. The event hosted about 40..Read More

Aug 20

A walk to the town of Bhadran

A walk to the town of Bhadran was organized on 29th August 2019 and was led by Mr. Jitendrasingh Gaekwad. The walk introduced the participants to the history of the town and the upliftment efforts carried out by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in the late 19th and the early 20th..Read More

Feb 15

Bharuch Heritage Walk

The Bharuch Collector office organized a Bharuch Heritage walk that was attended by six of our members and facilitated by Bharuch based HT member Archana Patel. The district administration is showcasing Bharuch’s architectural rich legacy and has been encouraging weekend heritage walks to enable tourists to better appreciate the rich..Read More

Jan 22

Heritage Quiz

An inter-school heritage quiz organized by the Bal Bhavan’s school on the 22nd of January 2019 for the second consecutive year and was sponsored by the Heritage Trust. 78 children from 20 different schools participated in the same. The quiz was designed and conducted by WH5 consultancy. There were audio..Read More

2018
Dec 20

Heritage Trust Publication

The Trust’s publication Once Upon A time…there was Baroda has been acquired by the United States Library of Congress’ New Delhi office. It will soon be available as part of their online catalogue with the Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) as part of research on South Asia. A two..Read More

Nov 20

Dharohar Newsletter Launch

The Trust launched its Quarterly newsletter Dharohar with the first volume for 2018-19 complete with 4 issues, the latest being the one in March. This is an e-newsletter and apart from letting our members know of activities that will or have happened, cover a theme. The themes covered till now..Read More

Aug 20

Heritage at Risk workshop

A workshop titled ‘Heritage at Risk’ conducted by Dr. Rohit Jigyasu (UNESCO Chair at the Ritsumeikan University, Japan and ex-president of ICOMOS India) was conducted on 20th August 2018 from 10.30- 1.30pm in the morning. The workshop was attended by various stakeholders including officials from the VMC futuristic cell, ASI..Read More

Apr 14

Tambekar Wada

A team of HT met ASI Deputy Superintending archaeologist Arun Malik to raise the issue of the Tambekar Wada on May 14, 2018. Issues on how to ensure the back portion is conserved and to get the other stakeholder on board to provide wholesome conservation efforts were discussed too. A..Read More

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