Through the Everyday of a Heritage Site: Understanding the Making of Chalai

Abstract: This paper examines the making of heritage in Chalai, a historic marketplace in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, by situating it within the evolving conceptual frameworks of heritage studies. The study adopts a working definition of heritage as a “mental construct” that attributes significance to selected places, artifacts, and practices from the past. In this light, Chalai is approached as an “everyday site” where commerce, residence, and memory intersect, and where heritage is embedded within routine urban life rather than preserved as a static exhibit. Drawing on field observations, interviews with residents, historical accounts, and news reports, the paper analyses both the tangible and intangible dimensions of Chalai’s heritagescape. Architecturally dense streets, centuries-old buildings, and the principal bazaar lane form the material substratum of heritage, while archival references, from medieval records to nineteenth-century accounts, constitute its narrative fabric. The study underscores that heritage in Chalai emerges not from a single chronological origin but from multiple historical layers, ranging from the Travancore period to contemporary socio-economic transformations. The paper further explores the evolution of trade practices, intergenerational businesses, and shifting material cultures, highlighting how nostalgia, adaptation, and commercial competition shape heritageconsciousness. Chalai’s plural cultural landscape reveals the coexistence of multiple heritages within a shared spatial frame. Finally, the study engages with state-led heritage redevelopment initiatives and stakeholder concerns, stating how Chalai exemplifies the challenges and possibilities of managing heritage within a continuously inhabited and commercially active urban environment.

Keywords: Chalai, heritage studies, cultural history, urban studies