About Us – Heritage Trust Baroda

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.

Executive Committee

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

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 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 Honorary secretary
Arati Desai : Art curator, writer and educator
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

2022

Nov 27

Viraasat Lecture

The annual Viraasat Lecture was held on the 27th of November 2022 at the FGI auditorium. The speaker, Ms. Heta Pandit has been a Heritage conservation activist for over 25 years where she spoke on her experience of ‘Heritage Activism in Goa: A Roller Coaster Ride’. The Rajmata, Shubhagini Raje..Read More

Nov 18

Heritage Week

Heritage Week was celebrated by organising several events. The Laurie Baker walk was led by Pragya and covered the structures designed by Architect Laurie Baker at Navrachana School, Sama, and Jyoti Ltd. The Coin Story was a talk led by Zubair Motiwala at the Ajwa coin museum. A special visit to the..Read More

Oct 01

Successful PIL filed by Heritage Trust to save the iconic Pratap Vilas Palace

Successful PIL filed by Heritage Trust to save the iconic Pratap Vilas Palace: The palace is over 100 yrs old heritage complex within the confines of the city of Vadodara housing the erstwhile Railway Staff College and home now to the National Academy of Indian Railways and the National High..Read More

Jul 01

Heritage Trust Clean up drive

VMC – Heritage Trust Clean up drive. This project by the city and the people took place once a week. A site was decided upon by both parties to clean and preserve. The areas around the Jaysingrao Library, the Navgruh Stepwell, the Bhadra Kacheri, the precincts of Yavteshwar Mahadev Mandir,..Read More

Apr 16

Viraasat Lecture

Viraasat Lecture. The second quarter of the year has the World Heritage Day on April 18 every year. Heritage Trust’s much awaited Viraasat Lecture was held on April 16. It was delivered by Ar. Aishwarya Tipnis an award-winning architect and heritage conservationist on “Heritage and Us: What citizens can do?”..Read More

Mar 23

Reimagining Heritage

Reimagining Heritage: A Collaborative Initiative of Navrachana University’s Centre for Heritage Research and Heritage Trust Baroda. Exhibition and walking tours were organized as part of the event Reimagining Heritage, by the Center for Heritage Research of Navrachana University along with the Heritage Trust Baroda. These two organizations collaborated for these..Read More

Mar 22

World Water Day

World Water Day was celebrated at Sevasi Vav. Ananta Foundation held an awareness event at the Sevasi Stepwell (popularly known as the Vidyadhar Vav) on 22 March, celebrated as the World Water Day. The foundation has adopted the Stepwell for two years and will be carrying out its regular cleaning..Read More

Mar 13

Jambughoda Royal Lunch

Royal Lunch at Jambughoda, Darbargarh was organised for HT members. At Rs. 1200 per head, Bhavnadevi of Jambughoda worked out an excellent menu for 20 persons. The Lunch was organized for the morning of Sunday, March 13. Heritage Trust has links with the Jambughoda Royal Family for many years. When..Read More

Feb 26

Makarpura Medley

Makarpura Medley – a workshop experiencing industrial art whose products blended the traditional (or heritage) with the contemporary interested a wide range of participants at two locations. Bodhi is a textile design and printing studio established by NID alumni Mala and Pradeep Sinha, and Rachaita is a fabrication unit that..Read More

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.