VICTORIA MEMORIAL, KALKOTA

The official icon of Calcutta or Kolkata is the Victoria Memorial, a building built in memory of Queen Victoria. The foundation stone was laid by the Prince of Wales, later King George V on the 4th of January1906. The design of the building was made by Sir. William Emerson, President of the British Institute of Architecture. It was completed in 1921.

The designers had the Taj Mahal in their sight and probably wanted this building to be an icon of the British Raj like the Taj is an icon of Mughal rule. The extravagance of such endeavours among millions of people living in poverty will always be debated, but aesthetics, art and design live in the minds of men possessed, disconnected from the realities of what surrounds them!

Like the Taj, the building has a large central dome with minarets on four sides, built in white Makrana marble and having lawns and gardens surrounding it. It houses an interesting museum within it.

THE YELLOW AMBASSADOR TAXI

Upto the 1950s Calcutta was one of the primary centers of economic activity in India, countering both Bombay and Madras as they were called then. From late 1950s began a process of slow killing of the city of Calcutta which was undertaken by the Indian Communists. Contrary to their counterparts in other parts of the world, this Indian subspecies had the capacity to debate, discuss and mouth words phrases and notions of this grand ideology but their actions on the ground were extremely detrimental to the very people they vouched to protect. Militant trade unionism and hair brained policies of successive communist governments killed the very spirit of Calcutta and Kolkata, as it is presently called, is a ghost of its past.
With the iconic yellow Ambassador taxi of Calcutta or Kolkata. Every city has a symbol, for me the yellow taxi is the real symbol of Calcutta, shining out in its brightness among the humdrum of its busy streets lined by tall colonial era buildings long past their age .... I spent few days there, some of the best of my life, thanks to my friends Prithvi Rathore and Harpreet Singh. Meeting Mr. Sauvik Majumdar was the icing on the cake.

Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram - the Shore Temple. Built between 700 and 728 AD by Pallav king Narsimhaverman I it is today a world heritage site. It consists of three shrines, two to Shiva and a central shrine having a reclining Vishnu made out a single rock. The sun rays enter the east and west facing shrines at sunrise and sunset. It is accepted that in ancient times there was a group of 7 such temples at this site which acted as landmarks for ships sailing in from East Asia as well as Europe for trade at ports all along this part of the coast. READ MORE...

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Mehrauli Monument 1 Adam Khan

Photos again of 22nd May visit. Adham Khan was a general in the army of Akbar and was also the son of his wet nurse, Maham Anga. In 1561 he fell out with another noble of Akbar named Ataga Khan who was also the son of another of his wet nurse. Adham Khan killed Ataga Khan and for this act Akbar punished him with death by having him thrown down the walls of Agra Fort. Maham Aga also shortly died of grief after the 40 day mourning period and Akber had this monument built for them where they were buried.

Unlike traditional Mughal design, the monument has an octagonal shape. In about 1830 a British officer converted the monument into his residence but removing the structure of the two graves. Subsequently the building functioned as a guest house, a police station as well as a post office. The tomb was finally restored on the orders of Lord Curzon, but only one was built, that of Maham Anga was not rebuilt within the monument. Read More...

Pondicheery

At Pondicheery ... Auroville and the sea

At the Ashram (hermitage) of Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry. Sri Aurobindo was a freedom fighter imprisoned by the colonialists and subsequently after being released became a sage. Sri Aurobindo and Swami Vivekanand were the fountain-heads of the spiritual bases of the Indian Freedom Struggle as well as of the modern Indian nation. Wanted to visit this Ashram all my life ... got this opportunity today!Read More...

ORCHA

It was awsome, it was as if we have been transported into a lost city by magic while reading a fairytale... Orcha was built by the Bundela Rajputs who gave their name to the Bundelkhand region. This region, which today lies divided between UP and MP, has a unique language, culture and is extremely rich in visual arts. Sadly, due to many reasons, it also is one of the poorest in the country during our times. Orcha was the second capital of the Bundelas and their velor during medieval battles is the stuff legends are made of.

JHANSI

The saga of the Jhansi fort and its residents are itched in the collective identity of India.

The Old European Cemetery at Kanpur

One of the biggest surprises for me was a visit of this cemetery within the heart of Kanpur city (Civil Lines) which has graves dating to a time before Delhi and Meerut were even taken by the East India Company, many dating to the late 1700s.

The excellent maintenance of the graves and the surrounding area - a beautiful boundary wall, no encroachers and an excellent `walking pathway’ under construction were a treat for the eyes. The reason was unbelievably scientific preservation and maintenance of this cemetery by the Lucknow circle of the Archaeological Survey of India. I had a long conversation with the officer in charge of Kanpur region, Mr. Manoj Kumar Verma, and congratulated him for his excellent endeavour (he is primarily responsible for this work).

The ASI used a book written by a European lady of Kanpur who died in 1985 to mark out each and every grave they could. Then they put up metal plates in front of these graves to mark them. A scientific method was used to reconstruct the graves using a mixture which was originally used for their construction. The stone markers were cleaned and preserved beautifully, including some in black stone.

Bithur, important site of Uprising of 1957

Bithur is one of the most important sites for the history of the Great Uprising of 1857. It was here that important leaders like Nana Sahab, Tatya Tope and Rani Luxmibai spent their childhood years. This was the primary station of Nana Sahab who in association with Azimullah Khan (his Dewan and close associate) planned the intricacies of the Uprising.

After the defeat of the Marathas in the Third Maratha War, the East India Company exiled Peshwa Baji Rao II to this town on the banks of river Ganges, about 24 km from Kanpur. Baji Rao II held his court here and adopted Nana Sahab has his heir.

Though most buildings associated with Nana Sahab at Bithur were destroyed by the colonial army after his defeat, on our visit here we found many broken old buildings and monuments which from the size and appearance of bricks appeared to be of the time of the Great Uprising.

Sati Chaura Ghat or Massacre Ghat, Kanpur

In 1857, one of the grimmest episode of the Uprising was enacted at this ghat which lies on the banks of river Ganges at Kanpur. Nearly 300 European men women and children were massacred at this ghat while they were trying to escape in boats towards Allahabad.

One old temple on this ghat stands today as it did in 1857. The overall structure of the ghat has also not changed in the past 159 years even with some new construction having come up in recent years.

One of the foremost rules of war from time immemorial is to keep `the moral authority of war’ intact. This is done through many accepted `dos and don’ts’. When unarmed men women and even children are killed by combatants, they tend to lose this very important moral authority and push their forces towards impending doom. This is a lesson which is ingrained within the history of this ghat.