India is reviving the practice of creating gazetteers, historical district-level records, after a nearly 50-year hiatus. The new approach aims to move beyond the colonial focus on administration and revenue, incorporating culture, social change, and democratic life. Moradabad division in Uttar Pradesh is leading this initiative with its new division-level gazetteer, which includes detailed historical accounts of local temples and community shifts, drawing from archival references. While other states are also restarting gazetteer creation, challenges like capacity issues and exclusion of local voices persist.