The Jaswant Thada

Source: Jaswant Thada in Jodhpur – White Marble Mausoleum in Jodhpur (indianholiday.com)

‘Such monuments are full of wisdom, for they have been filled with what they have seen and heard over hundreds of years.’

  A gigantic equestrian statue of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II stands around 100 meters before the mausoleum’s main gate. We were greeted by Rajasthani melodies sung by local musicians and folk singers seated on the monument’s steps as we proceeded to the entrance. The sepulchre is made from innumerable intricately cut marble sheets. The exquisite marble surfaces of the mausoleum exude a beautiful gentle glow, caressed by the sunlight and the surface being polished to perfection. Because the primary building material used in Jodhpur is buff-coloured sandstone, the pristine white marble provides a remarkable contrast not just with the reds of the staircase and walls, but also with anything else ever built in the region. The emerald greens of the doors and windows add to the charm of the structure.  

The equestrian statue of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jaswant_thada.png

The contrast of white marble and red stone

Source: Clicked by me

Folk singer greeting the visitors with Rajasthani melodies

Source: File:Jodhpur-Jaswant Thada-10-Musiker-2018-gje.jpg – Wikimedia Commons

The edifice is an epitome of Rajputana architectural style but the quaint domes are influenced by some of the most innovative Mughal architecture, demonstrating how Rajput rulers blended Mughal motifs in their structures. The monument has marble lattice screens (jaali work) and whimsical domes that reflect the creative brilliance and artistic expertise of the craftsmen of the time. The arches, pillars and jharokhas of the cenotaph are embellished with elaborate carvings. The walls of the hall, which houses a silver throne, are adorned with the exclusive portraits of Maharajas of Jodhpur. The impeccable architecture and design are evocative of the fine craftsmanship of the bygone era. The monument is more of a temple dedicated to previous kings, as Rajput clans are known for their ancestor worship. The main hall, built like a temple, was used for various rituals. As a method of paying respect to the deceased, it is highly recommended that you remove your shoes while entering the cenotaph.  

The inside of the hall

Source: Jaswant Thada – Kevin Standage (wordpress.com)

The jaalis at the cenotaph

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Jaswant_Thada#/media/File:Jodhpur-Jaswant_Thada-34-Fenster-2018-gje.jpg

The green doors which add to the charm of the building

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Jaswant_Thada#/media/File:Jaswant_Thada_-_Tür.jpg

A minor cenotaph in the area

Source: Clicked by me

In addition to the cenotaph of Jaswant Singh, there are minor cenotaphs of various Rajput kings, such as Maharaja Umaid Singh, Maharaja Hanwant Singh, and a memorial of a peacock that is believed to have flown into the funeral pyre while the rites were in progress. It also houses the crematorium which is reserved only for the royal family. Maharaja Jaswant Singh’s queens, who sacrificed their life on the king’s pyre, have their own portion in the monument. Several beautiful pillars that depict dancing figures decorate this section of the monument. To the west of the complex lies Dev Kund, a water body that was formerly utilized for performing traditional rites and rituals for the deceased and is now home to a few ducks. Jaswant Thada was taken over by the government of Rajasthan in 1949 with the merging of Jodhpur. It was later returned to the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, which currently manages and looks after it. The Trust runs a museum at Jaswant Thada that has portraits of Marwar kings as well as educational didactics which provides information about the history of the region. It has also undertaken a comprehensive restoration and conservation plan, which involved the development of additional gardens, among other things.  

The small lake to the west of the complex

Source: File:Jaswant Thada .jpg – Wikimedia Commons

One of the cenotaph’s most striking features is its location. The monument is complemented by the lush greens, spick-and-span lawns, chhatris, and a shallow lake nearby. During events such as the Rajasthan International Folk Festival and the World Sacred Spirit Festival, its grounds are used as a venue for performances and concerts. Amidst the bustling city, Jaswant Thada provides a peaceful escape for visitors and locals. The breathtaking view of the blue city and the Mehrangarh fort from this vantage point enthralled us. With all these elements put together, the structure of Jaswant Thada creates a truly mesmerizing effect and hence one should never miss an opportunity to visit this royal cenotaph.  

Bibliography:

• Sinha, J. (2007). Beyond the Dunes: Journeys in Rajasthan. India: Penguin Books.
• Jaswant Thada, Information about Jaswant Thada, Jaswant Thada in Jodhpur (indovacations.net)
• Jaswant Thada- Royal Splendor of Jodhpur | AapNo Desh – RajasThan
• Jaswant Thada – Mehrangarh Museum Trust
• Jaswant Thada Jodhpur Rajasthan – Palaces on Wheels
• Jaswant Thada ‘ Taj Mahal of Marwar ‘ In Jodhpur. A white marble commemorative tomb (jodhpursearch.com)

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hi, I’m Priya Agarwal …

Currently pursuing a Masters in Ancient Indian Culture and Archaeology, I aspire to create a link between heritage and people. I find solace in historical monuments and like to capture them through my lens. In the creative space, I love to sketch and try new DIYs. Ghazals and virtual tours of museums have been my best companion and kept me sane during the pandemic.

In the celebration of 75 years of independence, India has several achievements to its credit. It has built a contemporary economy (second fastest growing economy), remained a democracy, lifted millions out of poverty, has progressed in the field of atomic power and developed a strong policy for the better living of the world’s fastest-growing nation.  Seventy-five years ago,  India took baby steps to become one of the most important democracies within the world, overcoming a plethora of challenges to earn global recognition. India has come an extended way since Independence, leaving a string of landmarks that outline its journey from the agony of Partition to a robust, powerful and developing nation.

The concept of India as a territory goes back possibly as far as the third century BC, with the Maurya Empire. Since then, many other kingdoms and empires have occupied an outsized part of the Indian sub-continent, including the Chalukyas, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Delhi Sultanate and therefore the Mughal Empire. Post Maha Janapada Period 600 BC-200AD, saw architecture starting from Buddhist stupa, Viharas, temples (brick and wood), rock-cut architecture, Ajanta and Ellora, step wells, etc. The Middle Age architecture speaks of sculptured temples both South India temples and North India temples. The South India temples had a square chambered sanctuary topped by a 3 spire with an attached pillared mandapa as in Brihadeswara Temple, while the North India temples had elaborated spires, beautiful sculptures, delicate carvings, gopurams and courtyards as in Kailasa Temple, Khajuraho Temple, Konark Temple. The Mughal architecture highlights the Mughal tombs of sandstone and marble which reciprocate the Persian influence as in Red Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal, etc, which are still considered to be a few of the marvels of Indian heritage the nation possess.

Indian architects before Independence were working under British architects and soon after the British left India in 1947, Indian architecture was in chaos. Perhaps, there was an identity crisis, a dilemma whether to adhere to historical precedents or move forward with times using new ideas, images and techniques. While in other fields like art, music and culture, the distinct Indian imprint was more enhanced within the post-Independence period; no such thing was discernible within the case of architecture. It was within the year 1947, towards the midnight of 14th August, the inaugural Prime minister of newly Independent nation India came and gave one among the foremost memorable speech of the century called “Tryst with Destiny” which announced the grand entry of a newly born nation, beginning of an old era towards a contemporary one with new hopes and Identity. This also reflected on the struggle the state will face for the essential need for infrastructure and development. In the grand history of the state we always found our heritage in either Temple, mosques, or other religious monuments or palaces, forts, etc., unlike a city like New York where administrative structures like Railways, colleges, public gardens, bridges, and canals are a part of the heritage and are given equal importance, were developed a bit like the historical monuments.

1st PM Jawahar Lal Nehru’s speech post-independence. 

Jawaharlal Nehru had a far vision for the betterment and development of art and architecture in India. He invited Le Corbusier to style the capital of the state Punjab, Chandigarh. Le Corbusier designed the Secretariat and supreme court and ever since Chandigarh became a robust symbol of the latest India and inspired the architects and thus the general public for a forward-looking Modern Architecture within the Post-Independence period.

The new India had a requirement from government institutions like CPWD and education institutions like IIM’s and IIT’s, to develop modern cities for the longer term like Chandigarh, Bhuvaneshwar, and Gandhinagar, and therefore the responsibility to hold out such huge infrastructure challenge got to architects and designers from India and everyone around the globe.

There came a handful of intellectuals and architects who argued that monuments should be viewed in the context of their times, that they were not be imitated and modern India required modern architectural symbols and forms to precise the dynamism of a free on their march to economic development. While the style talk raged throughout the last decade, the 1950s also saw a big expansion of architectural education. In 1947, there have been three schools: Baroda, Bombay and Delhi. Some of the architects came back to India after education and training in western countries like Charles Correa, B.V. Doshi, Raj Rewal, Achyut Kanvinde which resulted in strong architectural character.

Architects who shaped new India

Although we see a serious metamorphosis of architecture ever since 1950 towards modernism, inspired by the renowned International architect’s Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, the identity of Indian architecture is not pure modernism. Most of the successful Indian architects including Charles Correa, Raj Rewal, and B.V.Doshi blended vernacular elements into modernism giving it an upscale flavour that demarcates the identity of Indian architecture. They used deep overhangs, courtyards, shading devices, pergolas, jaali screens to make an aesthetically appealing climate responsive design. Charles Correa features a deep understanding of the cultural values, mythological spaces, and historical architecture of India. He emphatically blended the Navagraha mandalas in two of his projects where the traditional elements cannot be separated from modernism. Raj Rewal was very fluent in using vernacular elements of Jaisalmer town in most of his projects, incorporating the hierarchy of social spaces, street patterns, urban fabric, abstract chhatris, locally available materials. Indian Modernism isn’t almost form, function, materials, structure but it adds another time which is that the feel of fresh air and nature inside the aesthetically profound spaces Indian architecture may be a fine mixture of modernism with traditional insights identified as Critical Regionalism, but it does have a more functional and rational approach to style which is the main language of modernism while incorporating the social spaces, regional vocabulary, economical possibilities, climate-responsive, integration of architecture with landscape, energy efficiency and using locally available materials, which provides a robust identity to Indian Modernism architecture.

India, with several millennia of history, boasts of a diverse and rich built heritage. Each region of our subcontinent boasts monumental buildings and remarkable archaeology. Yet, but 15,000 monuments and heritage structures are legally protected in India—a fraction of the 600,000 protected within the UK. Even those structures considered to be of national/state or local importance in India and guarded intrinsically remain under threat from urban pressures, neglect, vandalism, and, worse, demolition, only for the value of the land they stand upon. Following decades of archaeological effort, we in India boast of several thousand sites contemporary and even grandeur to the well-known Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, as well as hundreds of megalith sites—all unknown to the general public and even the tourism industry. India has currently 40 Unesco-designated World Heritage Sites, with two new sites added to the list in 2021 (Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple at Palampet in Telangana’s Warangal and Dholavira, a Harappan-era city in Gujarat). Thereby, in the celebration of 75 years of our independence, let us reminisce heritage buildings as not just buildings but a cornucopia of artisans’ techniques, exclusive raw materials, patience, reverence, and memory. Such edifices embody memories and emotions and are of inherent value. The richness in the brick and mortar technique or the use of natural healing limestone talks about the progressive architectural and structural elements. They need to be treated as a living resource, that adds value to society and our local economies and not just as burdens of the past. Not all buildings are monumental or great pieces of architecture and thus often become victims of redevelopment. Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for its timelessness, somewhere rightly quoted by Frank O Gehry, which can be linked to heritage and culture and present diversification it holds.

Bibliography : 

1. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/independence-day-2019-events-that-define-indias-journey-from-1947-to-2019-5906068/
2. https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/independence-day-2020-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-history-and-significance-of-india-s-74th-independence-day/story-KGQdmbXQ5HRTI5DrcmHYcM.html
3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271860565_A_Many-Cornered_Thing_The_Role_of_Heritage_in_Indian_Nation-Building
4. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/know-your-architects/a1392-indian-architects-that-shaped-the-face-of-new-india-in-post-independence-era/
5. https://www.artshelp.net/an-introduction-to-ancient-indian-architecture/

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hello there, I’m Ellora Ghosh…

Born and brought up in the plains of Assam and proudly pursuing her masters in Urban Planning, the young architect believes tangible heritage are the carrier of the past and virtue of timelessness. A writer in practice, she loves to pen what she predominantly observes and seeks to learn.  Her love for travel and authentic French cuisine makes her develop a strong interest in art, culture and heritage and wishes to document every country she travels to.

At that age, I was so taken aback by the captivating view that the intricacies like how, when, or why the bridge was built did not even cross my mind. It was only but a few days ago when my mother mentioned it while reminiscing about the trip, that my interest was piqued, and I decided to read up about the Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya, which are a quintessential example of the perfect amalgamation of architecture, human innovation, and nature. Documented for the first time in 1844 in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, the bridges may themselves date back a few more centuries as per the department of environmental studies at the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong. Presently there are 11 functional root bridges in Meghalaya, the most of which are in and near Cherrapunji, one of the wettest places on earth. Among them, the Double Decker Root Bridge over Umshiang river in Nongriat village is the most famous and popular tourist attraction. In addition to being a delightful natural wonder, the two levels of the bridge provide a utilitarian purpose as well. Due to significant rainfall during the monsoon season, the water level of the Umshiang river rose and often submerged the lower bridge, prompting the villagers to construct the second level. In the past few years, a new bridge is being engineered at Nongriat which will make it a triple-decker bridge, which according to the locals will help attract more tourists. 

Originally built by the members of the local Khasi Tribe of Meghalaya to connect isolated villages and cross rivers and streams, these bridges have over time come to facilitate commerce, connected villagers, and even lead to the formation of new relationships among the people, along with attracting tourists and improving the socio-economic conditions of the region. The Khasi tribe’s indigenous process of constructing the root bridges is just as intriguing as the outcome. Made up of interwoven living prop roots of Indian Rubber trees (Scientific name: Ficus elastica) belonging to the fig family, these bridges serve as a more stable and sustainable alternative to the man-made wooden bridges which decay and get destroyed in just a few years due to the region’s prolonged monsoon season. To establish a strong foundation, the rubber tree trunks are planted on both sides of the bank and the young tender prop roots of the trees are directed across either with the help of temporary bamboo scaffolding or through hollowed out betel nut tree trunks, which rot and disappear over time after guiding the roots of the desired path. Stones and pieces of wood are used to fill the gaps, which get embedded in the floor of the bridge. As they are grown from roots and not constructed of perishable material, root bridges take around 15 to 30 years to be created and become strong enough for people to be able to cross them. They also persist for centuries, only getting more robust and durable with time as the roots keep getting entangled and strengthened. 

The Living Root Bridge in Riwai, Meghalaya

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=living+root+bridge+of+Riwai&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image

The Double Decker Root Bridge in Nongriat, Meghalaya

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Living_bridges

The Bridge floor

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Living_bridges#/media/File:A_bridge_made_from_trees.jpg

Bibliography:

1. Shankar, Sanjeev. “Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya.”
2. Chaudhuri, Punarbasu, Subarna Bhattacharyya, and Alok Chandra Samal. “Living root bridge: a potential no cost eco-technology for mitigating rural communication problems.” Int. J. Exp. Res. Rev 5 (2016): 33-35.
3. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/living-root-bridges-clean-village-mwalynnong-india
4. https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/XG0VvYWuoy7fLoKL6WoHfP/Why-Meghalaya-is-building-new-root-bridges.html

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hello there, I’m Upasana Patgiri…

Currently a student of Bachelor of Planning from School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, I like to describe myself as a nature enthusiast and an inquisitive person. My interests are varied, from painting, embroidery and photography to trekking and cycling. I also like to cook, travel and learn new skills. Being a student of urban planning, discovering and learning about different places, concepts and ideas excite me and I hope to keep on exploring, questioning, finding answers to things, going ahead in life.