Monuments, Wisdom Tree, 2007 (original) (raw)
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This paper addresses changes in the understanding of monuments as a result of colonial intervention from essentially religious structures and abodes of spiritual power to objects of artistic and aesthetic appreciation. In the search for origins and chronology, the social history of religious architecture or the constant changes that any religious structure underwent as a ‘living’ monument in Asia were eliminated in the colonial period. This transformation of a shrine with varied following into a relic is a practice that was to be repeated at several sites in South and Southeast Asia.
UG Dissertation: University of Delhi, 2020
Monuments in India share a quite complex relation with the state and its various agencies. The aim of this study is to closely look at some of the Sultanate (and some pre-Sultanate) monuments in the present day Mehrauli area in Delhi and understand how there are multiple histories that are created around these monuments and how these histories coexist and interact with each other in shaping the way we understand monuments. The engagement of the state and the communities with monuments in India can be understood through three registers: “official histories” carefully documented and widely publicized by the state authorities; “local histories” of monuments borne out of a local context and constituted by the local memories of communities living around a monument; and thirdly, the histories of the monument which the state decides to project, obliterating other associations of the monument, thereby “creating” new monuments in the process.
Sacred architectures as monuments: a study of the Kalkaji Mandir, Delhi
Architectural Research Quarterly
This article considers the relationship between architecture, bodies, and custodies in the making of Indian urban monuments. Monuments are created through a combination of design and designation. In this article I explore a religious architecture that is dynamic and iterative and at which monumental designation was attempted and quickly abandoned. I align three issues: what a monument looks like, what a monument does, and how both design and function connect to the custodian regimes at monumental, or potentially monumental, sites. In particular, I am concerned with architectures of divinity, and devotion, as both quotidian and monumental aspects of a city.
THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF HINDU TEMPLES
Routledge Handbook of Hindu Temples
This handbook is a comprehensive study of the archaeology, social history and the cultural landscape of the Hindu temple. Perhaps the most recognizable of the material forms of Hinduism, temples are lived, dynamic spaces. They are significant sites for the creation of cultural heritage, both in the past and in the present. Drawing on historiographical surveys and in-depth case studies, the volume centres the material form of the Hindu temple as an entry point to study its many adaptations and transformations from the early centuries ce to the 20th century. It highlights the vibrancy and dynamism of the shrine in different locales and studies the active participation of the community for its establishment, maintenance and survival. The illustrated handbook takes a unique approach by focusing on the social base of the temple rather than its aesthetics or chronological linear development. It fills a significant gap in the study of Hinduism and will be an indispensable resource for scholars of archaeology, Hinduism, Indian history, religious studies, museum studies, South Asian history and Southeast Asian history.
Mosques as monuments: an inter-Asian perspective on monumentality and religious landscapes
cultural geographies, 2018
This article examines monumental mosques and particularly those that are built to be and function more as monuments than as places for worship. We consider the role of monumentality in religious landscapes by way of six exemplary mosques in three different world regions – Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Southeast Asia. Tracing their unique histories and the identity narratives inscribed in their built form, we stress three broader commonalities among these mosques-as-monuments: (1) each is the result of top-down, state-funded planning infused with strong nationalist or ideological symbolism, (2) each was designed to be an iconic architectural showpiece in the country's capital city, and (3) each represents a stark contrast to other places of worship within that national or regional context. In this unique comparative study, we use an interpretive approach designed to push the research on monuments and monumentality into new directions and new empirical contexts, and specifically to ask why and with what effect some religious sites are primarily monuments and only secondarily places of worship.
Sustaining the Identity of Spiritual Mughal Monuments
2016
Bangladesh, is home to the fourth largest Muslim population of the world. Numbers of mosques areproportionately dense in relation to the city’s population and the capital. The capital, Dhaka, is calledthe city of mosques. Spiritual buildings are an integral part of the architectural character of Dhaka. It wasa flamboyant city during the Mughal era. The architecture of Mughal Dhaka made profound contributionsto the history of Islamic architecture. Mughal religious monuments are significant for combining spiritualitywith identity. Now their identities are struggling with the growth of Urbanization. This study attempts toanalyze Mughal spiritual buildings at Sat Masjid Road in Dhaka to protect them from decay and to ensurethe restoration of redeemed spirituality.
Temples as Icons of India’s Heritage
Purvodaya, 2022
India can be called as a "Land of Temples" where innumerable temples dotting the landscape. Many of these are ancient and some of which are massive in size and grand in appearances. These were designed, constructed and maintained based on sound spiritual principles, as enunciated in the ancient texts including Vedas and Upanishads. The Hindu temples stand as a very principle of value, and beliefs steeped in the Indian culture and ethos of the past thousand years. Patronized generously by the rulers in the olden times, these temples stood as the sign of their regal power and might apart from being an embodiment of art and architecture. Though held equally sacred, temples in different regions have their own distinct structural style. As through the BiMonthly ISCS attempts to represent distinct characteristics and attributes of Eastern India. Therefore in this edition the article on "Temples an Icon of Indian Heritage" is a tour to the magnificent temples of Eastern India, deliberating how the temples of the region with multi-layered prisms covering the top for as an institution-appealing one's spiritual, religious and aesthetic senses. Strengthening bonds of connection and complimenting the livelihood of many. The proceeding articles also reflect certain essential compounds and variations of Indian Culture. Giving an insight to how bonding over culture and language enabling neighbors India-Bangladesh to harbor multi-dimensional growth. The Bulletin ends up proving a glimpse of the interesting seminar on "Evolving Riverine Connectivity in Eastern Hinterland" organized by the members of ISCS's Study group on Purvodaya.