PARTLY DAMAGED BY the great earthquake that struck Kutch (Kachchh) in 2001, what remains of the Aina Mahal in Bhuj contains a fascinating museum. Constructed in about 1750 for Rao Lakhpatji, ruler of Kutch, the palace is named because of the many mirrors (‘aina’) contained within it. Miraculously many of these fragile items survived the earthquake. The same is true for a set of reverse glass paintings.
A reverse glass painting
First developed in Europe, it was introduced to China by an Italian artist Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766). During the 18th and 19th centuries, Kutch traders brought them back from China as gifts for the rulers of Kutch. The traders commissioned them from Chinese artists, having first explained what subject matter was to be depicted. Later, glass painting became popular in both Kutch and Saurashtra, where it began to be done.
The technique of reverse glass painting is difficult. Paint is applied to the side of the glass away from the viewer. The artist must begin by painting what will be at the front of the picture. For example, if painting a portrait, the eyebrows, eyelashes, moustache, hair, and beard must be painted first. Then, the rest of the face needs to be created, and then the background. Adding to this difficulty is that the artist is painting on glass as thin as paper.
The reverse glass paintings and the ageing mirrors are but a few of the amazing exhibits on display in the Aina Mahal. We have visited the place several times, each time noticing things we had not seen before.
THE DHRABUDI TRMPLE complex is near the sea about 5 miles east of the town of Mandvi (Kutch, Gujarat). It is located ated next a small Freshwater lake, where pilgrims can bathe. Our driver told us that baby boys are brought to be blessed at the temple when they reach their first birth anniversary. When we visited, we saw a group of people doing a puja in the open air. They were respecting the first death anniversary of one of their relatives.
While wandering around the temple compound, we saw a group of Rabari women seated in the shade, under a large banyan tree. The Rabari are nomadic cattle and camel herders, as well as shepherds. In India, they aremost frequently found in Gujarat, Punjab, and Rajasthan.
Worshippers come from far and wide to do pujas at the mandir. The temple offers free meals to pilgrims. These are served in a large dining hall. One wall of this is lined with numerous portraits of people who have died. We were told that diners pick up a thali and other eating utensils before lining up to be served food.
Pit containing glowing charcoal for cooking
The kitchen, which is next door to the dining hall is vast. It was spotlessly clean. I saw a few gas rings, but what really fascinated me was the other method by which food is heated up. I saw three or four pits sunk into the floor. Each one is shaped like a large spoon. Glowing charcoal is heaped in the bowl of the ‘spoon’, and can ve spread along the stem. Pots are placed above the charcoal. The arrangement reminded me of the Turkish ocakbaşı. I imagine that the cooking speed can be adjusted by varying the amounts of glowing charcoal beneath each of the enormous cooking pots.
We did not stay to join the pilgrims having lunch. Although the temple cooks kindly invited us, we had lunch awaiting us at my wife’s cousin’s home.
I always enjoy visiting place of worship. What made Dhrabudi special for me was being shown its wonderful kitchen.
“My wife’s mother’s great grandfather was one Laxmidas Ravji Sapat (aka Sampat), who was born in the mid-19th century, or a bit earlier. Along with Gokaldas Parekh, Laxmidas was one of the first teachers in the Alfred High School in Bhuj (founded by Rao of Cutch, Pragmalji II in 1870). It is likely that he was its headmaster for a time. I have yet to see it, but his portrait hangs in the school. One of my wife’s relatives, also a descendant of Laxmidas, arranged to have it restored a few years ago. In 1890, Laxmidas left the school. Later, along with his son-in-law, Cullyanji Murarji Thacker, he went to London (UK) to become a barrister. He studied for the Bar at Middle Temple and was called to the Bar on the 27th of June 1900, along with his son-in-law, Mr Thacker, who was my wife’s mother’s grandfather.” (https://adam-yamey-writes.com/2023/02/02/running-in-the-family/)
Laxmidas Ravji Sapat
Today, the 25th of November 2023, we visited the Alfred School in Bhuj in search of the portrait of Laxmidas Ravji Sapat. We were shown a board on which the headmasters of the school were listed. On it we discovered that Laxmidas had been headmaster between 1888 and 1892. He was the school’s eleventh headmaster. It appears that he left the school two years later than I had been told.
As for the portrait of Laxmidas, the officials at the school had no knowledge. They suggested we try the museum next door. Part of this now owns the school’s original building, which was restored after the 2001 earthquake that destroyed much of Bhuj. Despite being part of the museum, the old school building stands disused and being renovated.
At the Bhuj Museum, we asked about the portrait. We were told that it is not in the museum. So where is it? In a few days time we will return to the school to visit its current headmaster. Maybe, he might know where it is. Until then, watch this space!
A NARROW ROAD LEADS away from the town of Mandvi (in Kachchh, a part of Gujarat) into an arid sandy area close to the seacoast. Scrubby bushes populate most of this flat terrain. After a few miles, a red building can be seen on the horizon. As you approach it, you can see that it resembles no other in the surrounding area, or, for that manner, in any other part of India. However, if you are a Londoner, it would seem familiar, although quite incongruous.
Replica of India House near Mandvi, Kachchh
The house in the desert is an accurate replica of a typical Victorian house, such as can be found in North London. In fact, it is a full-size copy of number 65 Cromwell Avenue in London’s Highgate area. The reproduction near Mandvi was built as part of a complex to commemorate Shyamji Krishnavarma (1857-1930), who was born in the centre of Mandvi.
Krishnavarma, who became a barrister and worked in various Princely States, moved to London, where he lived until about 1907. He moved to Paris, and then to Geneva, where he and his wife lived until they died.
In London, Krishnavarma lived opposite Highgate Woods. He invested wisely, and became interested in the works of English men, who had their doubts about Britain’s domination of India. He became an opponent of British rule in the Indian subcontinent. At first, his interest was mainly intellectual. However, in 1905, following the partition of Bengal, he became an activist.
One of his several activities was to purchase number 65 Cromwell Avenue. He had it adapted to become a ‘home away from home’ for Indians studying in London – they frequently had to endure the racist attitudes of English people. He named the building ‘India House’ (which should not be confused with the present Indian High Commission in London).
Apart from providing Indian food, some accommodation, and some leisure facilities, India House also hosted meetings that discussed the injustice of British rule in India. Soon, India House attracted the attention of the British police. This was because India House was becoming a nucleus or hotbed of anti-British activism. For example, some of the people who frequented the House experimented with bomb making and smuggling firearms to freedom fighters in India.
Krishnavarma left London in 1907, when he feared that he might be arrested. India House continued to be active until mid-1909 when one of its visitors assassinated an important colonial official.
Krishnavarma wrote in his will that after he was cremated, his ashes should be returned to India only after it had become independent of the British.
In the early part of this cemetery, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, then Narendra Modi, decided to bring Krishnavarma’s ashes to India – to Mandvi. Some years later, a complex to commemorate Krishnavarma was built outside Mandvi. Part if this is the replica of Highate’s former India House. The ashes of Krishnavarma and his wife are stored in urns on display in a building next to the replica.
If this story interests you and you want to know much more about India House, its replica, Krishnavarma and his fellow freedom fighters, including the currently influential VD Savarkar, you should read my, dare I say it, very informative book. I have produced two versions of it. One, the latest edition is “Indian Freedom Fighters in London 1905-1910), and is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0244270716/ . The other “Ideas, Bombs, and Bullets”, which can only be delivered to addresses in India in available here: https://store.pothi.com/book/adam-yamey-ideas-bombs-and-bullets/.
WE HAVE VISITED AHMEDABAD (Amdavad) at least five times since our first visit in 2018. We have always stayed at a small friendly hotel close to the House of MG. This former mill owner’s mansion is now a luxury hotel, which tries to create the kind of India that most foreigners have as an imagined preconception. It achieves that, but is rather too precious for my liking. On the road immediately outside this Disney like themed hotel is the ‘real’ rather than the sanitised India, which can be experienced within the House of MG.
Ever since we first stayed in Ahmedabad, we have seen a lady who sits on the pavement outside the compound of the House of MG. When we first met her, she used to sit beside her overweight husband. Sadly, he died during the covid19 pandemic. On our recent trip in November 2023, she could not be seen, and we were worried that she had also passed away. However, she appeared after several days of the Diwali holiday, and greeted us as old friends.
The reason for her temporary disappearance was that during the Diwali holidays newspapers are not printed. And she sits outside the House of MG for a good reason. She sells newspapers. When her husband was around she and he used to be surrounded by untidy piles of newspapers. We used to buy “The Hindu” from her every day. I noticed on our recent trip that her stock of newspapers was smaller and more tidily arranged than in the past. As “The Hindu” is no longer delivered to newspaper sellers in Ahmedabad, we have had to make do with “The Times of India”.
‘Our’ newspaper lady, the friendly autorickshaw drivers who hang around near her, the man who sells screwdrivers from his simple barrow, the faithful in the Sidi Saiyedd mosque opposite the luxury hotel, and the elderly Moslem gentleman watching the world go past his wheelchair are in my mind the real India and what makes it so endlessly fascinating for me.
AN ARTICLE IN “The Ahmedabad Times” newspaper, dated 18th of November 2023, discussed what the British Prime Minister’s wife, Mrs Sunak, was wearing at a recent Diwali party in London. Over her tasteful blue sari she was wearing a pearl necklace, which was attached to a golden pendant.
The pendant is a Hindu mythological creature, a ganderberunda. This is a bird with two heads – a double-headed eagle. It is the symbol of the Indian State of Karnataka. It is also a national symbol of places including Albania, Serbia, and Montenegro. It was also a symbol used by the Holy Roman Empire.
I wonder if Mrs Sunak was aware that the double-headed eagle is also a national emblem of Russia, against whom Rishi Sunak and his government are providing much military assistance.
THE LAW GARDEN in Ahmedabad was developed into a park in about 1997. Previously, it had been a vast triangular vacant plot in the heart of an affluent residential area. Named after an adjacent college of law, it was an undeveloped, rather disreputable bit of land. In 1997, it was tidied up and turned into what is now a pleasant place for people to relax and ‘take the air’.
Market stalls can be found along the street on one side of the park. After dark, a busy night market springs to life. This existed even before the park was completed.
Many of the stalls sell clothing made using colourful traditional patterned textiles – both embroidered and printed. Several stalls were selling cloths embroidered with small mirrors – work from Kutch.
In addition to clothing, there were hawkers selling toys and balloons. Foodsellers pushed small barrows from which they sold fruit, confectionery, and soft drinks.
This lively market reminded me a little of Fashion Street in Bombay, but it is somewhat smaller and offers less variety. The Law Garden night market is well worth a visit.
THE INDUSTRIALIST KASTURBHAI Lalbhai (1894-1980) filled his Ahmedabad home (built 1905) with works of art. One of his relatives had married a member of the famous Tagore family of Calcutta. When the Tagores decided to sell their fabulous collection of Indian art in the 1940s, Lalbhai purchased it and thereby saved it from being sold to buyers who did not live in India. These works are on display in the house, which is now known as the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum.
The Museum houses works of Indian art dating from as early as about the 4th century AD to the 1940s. Visitors to the museum are obliged to go on a prebooked informative guided tour through the rooms of the museum. Although a bit of a speedy experience, one leaves having seen an enlightening cross-section of the history of art in India. Photography in the museum is not allowed.
In the special exhibition
In the beautiful grounds of the museum, there is a recently constructed annex, where temporary exhibitions are held. We were treated to a show entitled “The Babu and The Bazaar”. It is a collaboration with the Delhi Art Gallery.
This fascinating exhibition contains a display of images created by Bengali artists, who painted in traditional styles that prevailed before art in Bengal became influenced by British art schools, Western European art, and the art of China and, especially, Japan. These external influences were most famously introduced by figures such as Rabindranath Tagore and his nephews Gagendranath and Abanendranath.
During my visits to India, I have seen plenty of paintings by Bengali artists who incorporated non-Indian artistic styles into their creations, but I cannot remember having seen such a large collection of Bengali paintings and other works in vernacular styles derived more from tradition than from outside influences. Most, but not all, of the artworks depicted Hindu religious subject matter. Many of the paintings were by artists I had never heard of, or were by unidentified painters. The well-labelled exhibits, which were beautifully displayed, were refreshing eye-openers.
THE BUSTLING KHWAJA Market in the heart of old Ahmedabad (Gujarat, India) stretches from the Bhadra Fort to the three-arched Teen Darwaja – a magnificent medieval gateway. Between the two, on one side of the marketplace, there is a 20th century edifice that is hard to miss. Built in the Brutalist style, this massive concrete building is the Premabhai Hall.
Premabhai Hall in Ahmedabad
It was completed in 1972. Its architect was Le Corbusier’s disciple and collaborator, the late BV Doshi (1927 – 2023). His building – an auditorium -replaced an earlier meeting hall, which had been built during the British occupation of India.
Looking like a giant piece of moder sculpture Doshi’s building hardly clashes with the mediaeval buildings on either side of it. Sadly, because of concerns about fire hazards, the Hall ceased being used in the 1990s. Luckily, it is still standing, but when looked at closely, it is showing signs of deterioration.
I hope that one day, the Premabhai Hall will be restored to its former glory.
ON ARMISTICE DAY (11th of November 2023), we stopped to look at the war memorial that stands in a busy part of Bangalore, where Brigade Road crosses Residency Road. Erected in about 1928, its design was somewhat influenced by Lutyens’s famous Cenotaph in London’s Whitehall. Actually, it has a greater resemblance to the memorial clock tower in London’s Golders Green, where I was brought up.
Bangalore
The four-sided memorial in Bangalore is to commemorate the members of the Pioneers, who died in WW1. However, it also records other earlier campaigns that claimed the lives of Pioneers The Pioneers, more correctly the regiments of the ‘Madras Pioneers’, were established by the British in the 18th century, and later became known as the Madras Sappers. More details are to be found in an article in the hindu.com : “A glance at some historical documents shows that the 61st Pioneers originated in 1758 and were raised as the 1st Battalion Coast Sepoys which became the 61st Pioneers in 1901 and later became the 1st Battalion of the 1st Madras Pioneers in 1922. The 64th Pioneers also originated in 1758 as the 5th Battalion Coast Sepoys and became the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Madras Pioneers in 1922. The 81st Pioneers stood apart and originated in 1786 as the 28th Madras Battalion and later became the 10th (Training) Battalion of the 1st Madras Pioneers in 1922.”
Apart from WW1, the monument records other campaigns that were fought so that the British could consolidate their Empire. These include (to mention but a few named on the memorial): Mysore, Seringapatam, Nagpur, Afghanistan (1878-80), Burma (1885-87), and China (1900). For some of these conflicts the numbers of men lost are recorded. Numbers of English and Indian fatalities are listed separately.
When we visited the monument on Armistice Day, we saw two fresh wreaths at its base. One had a label attached, which said it had been placed by the French Consulate in Bangalore. The other had no words but it bore ribbon with the colours on the flag of Germany. There was neither an Indian nor a British wreath to be seen.
yamey 