Pune Aitihasik Vastu Smriti

The Pune Aitihasik Vastu Smriti (Marathi: पुणे ऐतिहासिक वास्तू स्मृती; lit. transl. Pune Historical Architecture Memory) is an historical society established under the Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Trust on 5 November 1995, in Pune, Maharashtra in India.

Between 1995 and 2004, the society installed numerous commemorative plaques honouring individuals important to the history of Pune and the culture of Maharashtra. The plaques are installed posthumously, usually outside the honoured individual's residence during their lifetime. The founder of the society, Jayant Shridhar Tilak, modelled it after English Heritage, and their installation of blue plaques across Greater London.

The society further published a guide book-cum-biographical dictionary under the label of Pune Heritage in two volumes, in 1996 and 2004. The volumes detail the location of every blue plaque across Pune, and include biographies of the individuals honoured dually in English and Marathi.

The first plaque installed was that of writer Shivram Mahadev Paranjape in November 1995, where as the 100th plaque installed was that of humorist Purushottam Laxman Deshpande in February 2004. In 2010, several more plaques were inaugurated for Maharashtra Day. By 2020, there were a total of 135 plaques which had been installed, however they were poorly maintained.

List of plaques

Publications

• Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Trust (1 August 1996). पुणे ऐतिहासिक वास्तू स्मृती : नीलफलक मार्गदर्शिका [Pune Heritage : Blue Plaque Guide] (in Marathi and English). Vol. I. J. S. Tilak, chairman; Sarang Sathe, plaque producer; V. K. Mehendale, treasurer; M. S. Dixit, secretary. Pune: Kesari.
• Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Trust (29 February 2004). पुणे ऐतिहासिक वास्तू स्मृती : नीलफलक मार्गदर्शिका [Pune Heritage : Blue Plaque Guide] (in Marathi and English). Vol. II. M. S. Dixit, president; P. S. Palande, vice president; V. K. Mehendale, treasurer; V. R. Gokhale, secretary; V. S. Pingale, secretary. Pune: Kesari.

Gallery

References