Kolkata’s Heritage Illumination Movement Goes National with 2,500-Light Project at Amritsar’s Khalsa College
Mudar Patherya, an urban revivalist and heritage conservationist from Kolkata, is expanding his widely acclaimed city-wide heritage illumination movement into a pan-India initiative. The national campaign kicked off at the historic, 300-acre Khalsa College campus in Amritsar, marking Patherya’s most complex and technically ambitious project to date. Unlike typical urban illumination tasks that require roughly 100 to 150 fixtures, this massive estate demanded nearly 2,500 lights. The intricate setup was strategically engineered to complement the building’s geometry and showcase its Indo-Saracenic facade, curves, domes, and sweeping sandstone arches against the night sky without altering or damaging the physical architecture.
The project progressed with incredible speed, securing management approval within two days and dispatching installation teams from Kolkata within a single month. The transformation was funded via corporate social responsibility (CSR) by Techno Electric and Engineering Company, whose managing director, Padam Prakash Gupta, is an alumnus of Khalsa College. Rather than treating lighting as mere cosmetic beautification, Patherya champions illumination as a strategic civic tool capable of building urban pride, generating evening tourism, and stimulating local economies through nightlife—all without the cost of constructing new monuments. Striking a delicate balance with historical authenticity, the project deliberately avoids aggressive color-changing LEDs, utilizing subtle, warm yellow lighting to reveal the true beauty of the architectural legacy.
About The Author
