Hyderabad, April 12 --  It was a fitting setting when about 150 people gathered in an interpretation centre at the Qutb Shahi Tombs complex in Hyderabad's Deccan Park, which isn't open yet, stuck in litigation and half-built. This, undoubtedly, made it the right place for Ritish Nanda, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), to speak about the years spent working on monuments that were, over time, buried in neglect. On Saturday evening, April 11, he explained what it takes to dig them back out.

At a talk organised by Sangat, a Hyderabad-based cultural initiative, Nanda spoke on the topic "Interpreting Heritage: From Humayun's Tomb to the Qutb Shahi Tombs," where he drew the organisation's restorat...