If you stroll through the historic districts of cities like Delhi, Ahmedabad, or Kolkata, you’ll likely spot blue plaques adorning heritage buildings. Inspired by London’s renowned blue plaque programme, these markers honour the legacy of structures that have endured through time.
Whether it’s an old haveli, a colonial-era institution, or the residence of a notable figure, these plaques put up by municipal corporations aim to make the past more visible in the present. By drawing attention to these sites, they seek to encourage people to pause, reflect, and engage with the city’s architectural and cultural legacy.
But beyond their symbolic value, do these plaques truly help preserve heritage? Do they inspire restoration efforts, or are they merely decorative celebrations of a fading past?
Ahmedabad was the first city to introduce blue plaques in 2019 after its old city, founded by Ahmad Shah, was declared India’s first World Heritage City in 2017. Kolkata followed in 2022, and Delhi is the latest to join this league of cities commemorating heritage through blue plaques.
In December 2024, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) began installing blue oval plaques on heritage buildings such as Town Hall and Hardyal Library—formerly known as Hardinge Library—among others.
The MCD’s oval plaques feature a white border and golden lettering over a navy-blue background. Each plaque reads “Municipal Corporation of Delhi – Heritage Building”, along with the civic body’s logo, the name of the site, and its year of origin.
“We have installed 50 of the 55 plaques planned for the first phase of the project. The idea is to educate people about the city’s heritage,” an MCD official overseeing the initiative said.
Ahmedabad’s blue plaque programme has loftier objectives. “A blue plaque is like a badge of identity for a building as a heritage property. The aim was to create awareness, foster civic pride, and encourage conservation of the city’s architectural heritage,” says Ashish Trambadia, then CEO of the Ahmedabad World Heritage City Trust (AWHCT), which was established by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation after the Walled City was declared a Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage City.
Regarding the choice of blue for the plaques, he says, “Initially, we even considered wooden plaques. But we realised they might not stand out on houses with intricate wooden facades. Besides, blue plaques are well-known and widely recognised.”
London’s blue plaques are the most famous. The city’s blue plaque programme began in 1866 to link “the people of the past with the buildings of the present,” according to English Heritage, the agency responsible for installing over 1,000 plaques across the Capital. These plaques appear “on buildings humble and grand” to honour notable men and women who have lived or worked in them.
Some of the most famous plaques in London include the home in Barons Court where Mahatma Gandhi lived while studying law, the residences of authors Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie, the building on Brixton Road where Charlie Chaplin lived between 1908 and 1910, and the Feltham House where rock legend Freddie Mercury began making music.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation identified 2,692 heritage buildings—2,223 houses, mostly in the old housing clusters or the “Pols”, and 449 institutional structures. The city has placed plaques on nearly all of them, except for 180 buildings where installation was not possible, mainly due to opposition from the owners.
“We were not informed or taken into confidence. Most people in the Walled City do not understand the value of a plaque or how they would benefit from it,” says Parag Babulal Shah, whose house has a plaque.
Trambadia counters, “People were informed through newspaper advertisements and posters inside the pols.”
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation ( KMC) launched its Blue Plaque Programme in 2022 with the installation of the first plaque at the house of Rani Rashmoni in Janbazar, central Kolkata. “We wanted to install plaques on all 700 Grade-I heritage buildings in the city. So far, we have installed them on 500 buildings, the majority of which are houses. However, we have been unable to install plaques on the remaining ones as many are dilapidated. Some homeowners were reluctant,” says Partha Sarathi Samanta, director general, environment and heritage department, Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
Among the buildings that have received blue plaques in Kolkata are colleges, universities, historic residences, theatres, and bookshops—places that have shaped the architectural, intellectual, and cultural identity of the city that was once considered the second-most important city of the British Empire after London.
Last month, the 132-year-old Minerva Theatre on Beadon Street in north Kolkata—an iconic landmark in the city’s cultural landscape since the inception of modern Bengali theatre in the 19th century—was awarded a blue plaque by KMC, recognising it as a Grade-I heritage structure.
According to the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs’ (MoHUA) classification, heritage Grade I comprises buildings and precincts of national or historic importance, embodying excellence in architectural style, design, technology, and material use. Heritage Grade II comprises buildings and precincts of regional or local importance possessing special architectural features. Grade III comprises buildings and precincts of importance for townscape; that evoke architectural aesthetic, or sociological interest.
“One of the important objectives behind the initiative was to help promote conservation of these buildings by spreading awareness about their historical importance,” says Samanta.
But city-based conservation architect Partha Ranjan Dash is sceptical about the effectiveness of these plaques in preserving heritage buildings.
“These plaques will do little to preserve heritage buildings in the city. What Kolkata truly needs is not decorative markers but a well-defined policy that incentivises owners and provides financial support for conservation. The city should also introduce a transfer of development rights (TDR) policy, as some other cities have, to make preservation viable. Otherwise, the buildings will collapse, leaving only the plaques behind,” says Dash, a consultant for the conservation of several landmark buildings in Kolkata, including the Town Hall.
But Trambadia contends that plaques have yielded positive results in Ahmedabad. “It has led to better heritage vigilance within the old city, improved maintenance of buildings by the owners, and established direct communication between property owners and tourists,” he says.
Aishwarya Tipnis, a Delhi-based conservation architect, says that blue plaques are a welcome initiative as they help raise awareness about heritage buildings. However, she emphasises that awareness alone is not enough.
“There is a need for capacity building among heritage property owners, and raising awareness is just the first step,” says Tipnis. “The next crucial step is ensuring funding and implementing conservation with proper guidance. Without financial support and clear direction, awareness alone won’t ensure meaningful conservation.”
In 2021, she launched The Restoration Toolbox, an open-source online platform to address the many challenges associated with the restoration and adaptive reuse of old buildings. The platform, which has been recognised by European Spaces of Culture, helps citizens at every step of the process — from conceptualising, designing, financing, and implementing a project through a process of collaboration and co-creation.
“People should be properly educated about the importance of blue plaques, and their installation should be accompanied by financial incentives to support the maintenance of these heritage houses,” says Shah.