Mahidpur Fort

Completed Project

Madhya Pradesh, India

Site History and Significance

Mahidpur Fort, an eighteenth-century military structure, is located in Madhya Pradesh, India. The second largest state in the country, Madhya Pradesh is home to numerous heritage sites of cultural importance and storied history. As a major stop on the ancient trade route of Dakshinapath, which connected to the Silk Road, Mahidpur Fort was influenced by Hindus, Muslims, and Jains. Mahidpur is a fortified citadel punctuated by six entrance gateways along with steps, historic temples, and a fortification wall. Despite its historic significance, the fort suffered from prolonged neglect and deterioration.

Our Involvement

The Madhya Pradesh Cultural Heritage Project

In 2011, World Monuments Fund (WMF) began working with the Madhya Pradesh government to realize a project to document and conserve a selection of approximately 40 sites across the state, engaging consultants to assess, document, and plan for heritage conservation projects; develop conservation management plans; and monitor the implementation of select projects to completion. Work undertaken under the umbrella of the Madhya Pradesh Cultural Project is intended to serve as a model of sustainable management for conservation projects in India and around the world.

Mahidpur Fort was selected as one of the featured sites of the Madhya Pradesh Cultural Heritage Project.

An Example of Community Stewardship in Heritage Preservation

Beginning in 2012, WMF worked with professionals and the local community on conservation efforts at the fort, performing documentation and analysis and structural consolidation of the fortification wall, bastions, and gateways.

In 2015, the project at Mahidpur Fort was completed, and in September 2016, UNESCO cited the restoration of the fortification of walls and bastions of Mahidpur Fort with an award of merit in the annual Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Preservation, recognized as an exceptional example of community stewardship in heritage conservation.