Crossroads of Conservation, Culture and Nature: Case of the Lonar Crater

This article examines critical concerns surrounding conservation, site management, and long-term sustenance of heritage sites where natural and cultural dimensions are deeply intertwined. It focuses on the Lonar crater site in India, an unparalleled geological formation, characterised by unique ecological conditions, that simultaneously functions as a significant cultural heritage site with extant historic religious architecture. Thus, Lonar represents a dynamic landscape shaped by continuous interaction. However, these interactions become conflicting situations as the natural and cultural factors often collide due to factors like climatic changes and anthropogenic activities. In the last decade, to tackle rising issues, discrete solutions that cater to individual entities of the landscape are been sought after. The article contends that existing conservation frameworks- treating material heritage, intangible cultural practices, and natural systems as discrete domains- remain inadequate. Drawing upon a decade-long engagement with the site, the authors argue that there is a serious lack of a holistic and practice-based approach to the site. Approaching the site through the disciplinary lenses of archaeology, heritage studies and geo-spatial analysis.