Mehrangarh on Minecraft : Digital Heritage Education Programme

“the work of giants” as described by Rudyard Kipling

Mehrangarh Fort photographed by Neil Greentree ©Mehrangarh Museum Trust

Krishna Shekhawat

Mehrangarh Fort could be India’s first monument to offer a gamified educational experience.

Walk, play, explore and create

Rebuild lost monuments

Trace architectural history through the centuries.

Create games to teach resource management and teamwork

Experience walkthroughs with friends, family or classmates

Host online conferences, festivals and events

This is to propose a digital heritage education project by launching Mehrangarh Fort on Minecraft, a Microsoft-owned video game in collaboration with Ashoka University Minecraft team.

MINECRAFT IMPACT

Total revenue earned – $ 240 Million

Number of active monthly users – 126 million monthly users

Number of Minecraft: Education Edition users – 35 million students and teachers

Average age of a Minecraft player – 24 years old

Increase in new  players since Covid-19 pandemic – 25% increase

WHY DIGITAL HERITAGE EDUCATION? 

ⓒ Minecraft: Education Edition

MUSEUMS ON MINECRAFT

UNESCO : Let’s keep our legacy alive, one block at a time

Monuments are recklessly destroyed in conflict zones. But if its impossible to rebuild in the real world, why not build in another world? UNESCO rebuilt lost Syrian monuments on Minecraft.

MUSEUM OF LONDON : Great Fire of 1666

ⓒ Museum of London on Minecraft 

For the 350th anniversary of London’s Great Fire 1666, Museum of London created an exciting  virtual experience on Minecraft. 

MEHRANGARH ON MINECRAFT 

Teaser : Mehrangarh on Minecraft ©Mehrangarh Museum Trust and Ashoka University Minecraft

 DO OR DIE : WARS ON HORSES AND FLYING HORSES

As with phones today, Rathore Rajputs considered swords and horses as an extension of themselves. When one-on-one battle went out of fashion, Maharajas of Jodhpur found renewed interest in warfare through airplanes, or rather flying horses!

Activities

1. Send diplomatic delegation to avoid war

2. Experience Fort architecture evolve to bolster defence.

3. Store arms and basic food supplies

4. Strategise to attack and defend unarmed subjects

5. Form teams to build multiple levels of attack

Target audience : 10 – 15 years old

DROUGHT OF 1920s

Jodhpur is the capital of the kingdom of Marwar, which literally translates to the land of death. Drought has historically been a part of life here. How can this resource scarcity be tackled?

Activites

1. Uncover causes of drought- natural or mismanagement?

2. Experience the region grow drier

3. Dig deep wells to tap underground water

4. Relocate humans and animals to save them

5. Restore and recreate water management system

Target audience: 10-15 years old

JODHPUR RIFF GOES DIGITAL

Mehrangarh Fort hosts the world-famous Jodhpur RIFF, an annual Rajasthani folk music festival.

Due to pandemic, festival enthusiasts can now digitally attend the festival.

Activities

1. Walk across various venues

2. Interact with the performers

3. Attend concerts and lectures

4. Visit the museum

5. Host your own event

Target audience : 25-75 years old

(i) Access

1. Offer remote access to the Fort amid Covid-19 pandemic. 

2. Providing universal, 24*7 , all-weather accessibility to the minecraft Fort in comparison to the fixed timings of the Fort.

3. Increase accessibility for the physically disabled and elderly.

(ii) Creative

1. Offer a revolutionary combination of History and Technology to adapt to modern times..

2. Trigger problem-solving skills through team coordination, collective building and game play.

(iii) Educational

1. Equip school children with resource management skills. 

2. Apply education in math and engineering by creating coding and constructing.

3. Provide a fun, interactive medium for school children to learn about the rich museum collection and arts and crafts of Marwar. For eg: default minecraft music can be set to Rajasthani folk music.

4. Engage students in curating exhibitions and tours of temples, lakes and various parts of the Fort

5. Encourage research by providing a repository of various important historical texts, documents, files in the server for easy access.

Children observing Decorative Arts photographed by Bhawani Singh ⓒ Mehrangarh Museum Trust

(iv) Cultural

1. Create a sense of identity and belonging for the people of Jodhpur

2. Offer a practical, easy-to-use approach to educate about the phased architectural history of the Fort over centuries. For eg: players will memorise Fort spaces by continued playing. 

(v) Disaster Preparedness 

1. Better disaster management by creating a platform to understand the fort floor structures, exit and entry points clearly.

TIMELINE *

*Timeline will be subject to change depending on availability of map data and high-resolution photographs.

**Building includes : 

Week 1 : Extracting, analysing, cleaning, scaling and converting map data into software recognisable data 

Week 2: Setting up server, uploading files, customising resource packs, getting up security firewall, adding layered whitelist permission, setting up FTP repository for backup and restore facility, installing custom plug-ins, rendering and customising minecraft world

Week 3-8: Building exteriors and interiors of the Fort 

FINANCIAL VIABILITY

(i) Expenses

1. One-time, all-inclusive capital cost.

2. Annual, recurring maintenance and running costs

Please note that above mentioned figures are subject to availability of funds, negotiation with vendors and Microsoft and equipment.

(ii) Revenue

1. Revenue generation to balance these expenses can be:

2. Standard user fees to enter the minecraft world can be charged.

3. Add-on charges as per entry to a particular Mehrangarh Minecraft world.

4. Sale of player skins and other add-on features.

5. Promotion of Mehrangarh merchandise by funnelling audience to www.mehrangarhmuseumshop.com

6. Leasing out Mehrangarh Minecraft world for collaborations

(iii) Final Assessment

According to preliminary calculations, costs incurred can be covered comfortably within two years of launch. Thereon, the revenue generation shall be higher than recurring maintenance expenses.

MARKETING PLAN

1. Formalise collaboration with Microsoft for technical assistance and marketing on their platforms

2. Promotional video series before and after launch to generate and sustain interest

3. Set up tie-ups with schools and higher education institutions

4. Invite future audience to contribute during building stage to ensure sustained relationship

TEAM PROFILE 

CURATION, HERITAGE EDUCATION  AND COORDINATION LEAD – Krishna Shekhawat, Assistant Curator, MMT

TECHNICAL AND DESIGN TEAM- Atishay Khanna, Founder, Ashoka University Minecraft

ⓒ Ashoka University Minecraft by A. Khanna and team

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am deeply grateful to Dr. Shobita Punja, former CEO, National Culture Fund for her initial encouragement and discerning eye in seeing potential in this idea; Kr. Karni Jasol, Director, Mehrangarh Museum Trust, for always supporting my ideas and providing a free thinking space; Dr. Madhuvanti Ghosh, Alsdorf Associate Curator at Art Institute, Chicago for sharing her academic rigour, training and sage advice unconditionally; Dr. Vandana Sinha, Director, American Institute of Studies, Gurgaon and Stuti Gandhi at AIIS for their patient cooperation and administrative support.

Special thanks are due to the U.S. Embassy in India for creating an atmosphere under which some of my nascent thoughts found flesh and bone.

Most importantly, this idea would never have seen the light of day without some key conversations and brainstorming with Atishay Khanna and his ever-supportive team of techies who built Ashoka University Minecraft.