Since history offers an endless web of information, it seems a dry subject. Studying why a powerful person built a particular monument, its strategic importance, or its cultural significance is not readily fascinating. To someone with no training in history, it may be a weary task to learn about various elements of a historical marvel.
But a story makes this exciting. A story serves as a bridge between a layman’s understanding of history and a historian’s study. Fiction plays a major role in bringing out the essence of any architectural marvel. Stories and myths add amusement to the history of a place. These stories may not be accurate, but they provide a base for people to build their knowledge.
In fiction, the architectural descriptions provide a good understanding of the era, the available technology, the styles and personalities, the potential commute systems, the status quo, and the relative arrangement of various regions and the persons therein. Architecture serves as a tangible, unchanging, and credible reality of fiction, enabling us to envision stories and comprehend characters and their activities. Hence, a fictional author needs to be well-versed in fundamental architectural ideas. The level of detail gives readers a sense of reality in the story. We can see the wonder of distant places by reading about how characters experience them. Without a doubt, movies also aid in this. But the visual format can never convey the thoughts and feelings of a character as profoundly as words do. The crucial connection between architecture and the psychology of the visitor is established in written fiction, about which architects are frequently uninformed.
Here are some of the best descriptions of historical places in India, written so evocatively that the lines inspired me to visit and research these monuments:
“But the city of Delhi, built hundreds of years ago, fought for, died for, coveted and desired, built, destroyed and rebuilt, for five and six and seven times, mourned and sung, raped and conquered, yet whole and alive, lies indifferent in the arms of sleep.
It was the city of kings and monarchs, of poets and storytellers, courtiers and nobles. But no king lives there today, and the poets are feeling the lack of patronage; and the old inhabitants, though still alive, have lost their pride and grandeur under a foreign yoke. Yet the city stands still intact, as do many more forts and tombs and monuments, remnants and reminders of old Delhi, holding on to life with a tenacity and purpose which is beyond comprehension and belief.” ( Ali 4)
“It was built after the great battle of Mahabharat by Raja Yudhishtra in 1453 B.C. and has been the cause of many a great and historic battle. Destruction is in its foundations and blood is in its soil. It has seen the fall of many a glorious kingdom and listened to the groans of birth. It is the symbol of Life and Death, and revenge is its nature. Treacherous games have been played under its skies, and its earth has tasted the blood of kings. But still, it is the jewel of the eye of the world, still it is the center of attraction. Yet gone is its glory and departed are those from whom it got the breath of life. Where are the Kauravs and the Pandavas? Where are the Khiljis and the Saiyyeds? Where are Babur and Humayun and Jahangir? Where is Shah Jahan who built the city where it stands today? And where is Bahadur Shah, the tragic poet and the last of that noble line? Gone they are, gone and dead beneath the all-embracing earth. Only some monuments remain to tell its sad story and to remind us of the glory and splendor-a Qutab Minar or a Humayun’s Tomb, the Old Fort or the Jama Mosque, and a few sad verses to mourn their loss and sing the tale of mutability:
I’m the light of no one’s eye,
The rest of no one’s heart am I.
That which can be of use to none
-Just a handful of dust am I.” (Ali 4)
~ Twilight in Delhi by Ahmed Ali (1994)
“Cunning people forge copper coins and take their value in silver and gold till there is nothing left in the treasury. Kamal says that the sultan has been talking of conquering China and then the rest of Asia. And now he has issued a proclamation transferring his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad 700 miles down towards gehennum. He has ordered every man, woman and child to evacuate Tughlakabad and travel southwards with him. This is indeed madness! Delhi by whatever name it is known Lal-Kot, Mehrauli, Shahr-i-Nau or Tughlakabad-has always been the seat of the emperors of Hindustan. Delhiwallas would rather die than live in any other city in the world. Poor Kamal as a government servant must comply with the order; but no sultan’s writ has ever extended to the sacred precincts of the mausoleum of Hazrat Khwaja Nizamuddin.” (Singh 88)
~ Delhi : a novel by Khushwant Singh (1990)
“These are the Bengali all-stars. There are many others on the murals,
among them scientists, bomb-throwers and saints. The only post-colonial
faces you can’t miss on belong to Satyajit Ray, Mother Teresa and Amartya
Sen. The rest all lived during the two centuries of British rule, as if the
colonial oppressors left, and Calcutta ceased to produce great men and
women.” (168)
“In street-corner busts and in parks, in street signs and on school gates, Rammohan, Bankim, Vidyasagar, Rabindranath, Netaji, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda are memorialized over and over. In Shyambazar, Netaji rides a horse over the five-point traffic snarl; in College Square Vidyasagar keeps watch over students rushing to tuition; in Gol Park Vivekananda stands tall, asking us to arise, awake to the new dawn. And Rabindranath Tagore peers down at us everywhere, at Rabindra Bharati University, or the concert hall at Rabindra Sadan, on a tram in Rabindra Sarani or while stealing a kiss along the lake at Rabindra Sarobar.” (169)
“After the British left, most of the colonial statues were taken away and the colonial names changed. Dalhousie Square became Binoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh, Amherst Street became Rammohan Sarani. Landsdowne Road became Sarat Bose Road, making a city in which the colonial past was reinscribed as an age when Bengali giants strode the earth.” (169)
These were only a few excerpts from vast writings about cities, monuments, and their stories. While writing these tales, it becomes essential to imbibe the aura of that city through its culture, not one that we document easily, but something subtle and ever-evident that incorporates a sense of teleportation to that place. One cannot imagine Ballimaran in Chandni Chowk without remembering a couplet or two of Ghalib. It is not a known phenomenon to go to Fatehpur Sikri or the Agra Fort without hearing stories of Jodha Bai or Anarkali. Despite their unreliability, these tales provide an initial pull toward a monument. One goes to a historical place not just to see its architecture but to share the experience of the people who made them. Architecture as an art form is undoubtedly one of the most illustrious inventions of the human mind. However, stories draw people to it, descriptions make the monument live in a reader’s mind, and these, I believe, are the foundation determining the significance of historical architecture. It is our nature to associate things with one another, to create narratives. Fiction does the same; it surrounds places with the magic of storytelling.
References
Ali, Ahmed. Twilight in Delhi. United States, New Directions, 1994.
Choudhury, Kushanava. The Epic City: The World on the Streets of Calcutta. United Kingdom, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.
Singh, Khushwant. Delhi. India, Penguin Books, 1990.
Importance of Architecture to Fiction Writers
Redfearn, Suzanne. ARCHITECTURE IN FICTION—IT’S MORE THAN JUST A SETTING. (March 18, 2020) (https://crimereads.com/architecture-in-fiction-its-more-than-just-a-setting/)
Feature Picture – Interiors of Red Fort, Delhi (https://adcitymag.ru/indiya/)
Picture 2 – Jama Masjid, Chandani Chowk, Delhi (https://travelgudie.blogspot.com/2020/06/dellhiindiaTRAVELGUDIE.html)
Picture 3 –
Purana Quila, Mehrauli, Delhi. (https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/new-museum-proposed-at-purana-qila-in-delhi-by-april-2020/articleshow/72363186.cms)
Picture 4 – Jamali Kamali Mosque, Mehrauli Archaeological Park, Delhi (https://www.inuth.com/yolo/party-scenes/the-delhi-comic-con-is-too-far-here-are-this-weekend-exciting-events/)
Picture 5 – Rabindranatha Thakur’s House, Jorasanko Thakurbari, Kolkata (https://www.tripadvisor.in/Attraction_Review-g304558-d375376-Reviews-Tagore_House-Kolkata_Calcutta_Kolkata_District_West_Bengal.html)
Picture 6 – Victoria Memorial, Kolkata. (https://www.geeksscan.com/kolkata-the-most-beautiful-city-of-india/)
Picture 7 – Writer’s Building, Kolkata. (https://medium.com/@credoforu/credos-kolkata-bb658b1b2de1)
Kundanika Nanda
I am Kundanika Nanda, a history enthusiast and someone who finds various historical narratives to be fascinating and always worth knowing about. A resident of the city encompassed in myths, mysteries and history – Delhi. Currently I am pursuing History Honours as a first year student from Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi. I have joined India Lost and Found as a Cultural Researcher for an internship in the programme ILF SiteLens. Reading has been a hobby that is responsible for my bond with history. Comic books, especially Amar Chitra Katha, was the starting point for me at the age of 7 to learn about history.
