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This is the third and final part of “EAR TO THE GROUND”, from Ayodhya. The “EAR TO THE GROUND” is a unique series from The AIDEM presenting offbeat ground-level reports that go beyond the mainstream media. This three-part ground report has its focus on the ongoing developments in the temple town, including the rampant destruction of buildings, temples as well as other places of worship in the name of building a Ram Corridor in the same pattern as the Varanasi Vishwanath corridor. 

The Missing ‘Ram Rajya’ in New Ayodhya (Part 3)

This is the second part of  “EAR TO THE GROUND“, from Ayodhya . The “EAR TO THE GROUND“ is a  unique series from The AIDEM presenting offbeat ground-level reports that go beyond the mainstream media . This three part ground report has its focus on the ongoing developments in the temple town, including the rampant destruction of buildings, temples as well as other places of worship in the name of building a Ram Corridor in the same pattern as the Varanasi Vishwanath corridor.

The Missing ‘Ram Rajya’ in New Ayodhya (Part 2) 

This episode of <strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/tag/ear-to-the-ground/"><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">EAR TO THE GROUND</a><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“, the unique series from The AIDEM presenting offbeat ground-level reports that go beyond the mainstream media has its focus on the ongoing developments in Ayodhya, including the rampant destruction of buildings, temples as well as other places of worship in the name of building a Ram Corridor in the same pattern as the Varanasi Vishwanath corridor.In this three part report, supported by audio-visual content, Shivam Mishra, writer, and documentary film-maker argues that what Ayodhya is witnessing now is not renovation and rejuvenation of the temple town but blatant destruction of the “sacred geography“ of Ayodhya. An ardent believer in Lord Rama, Shivam Mishra had spent several days in Ayodhya, researching, collecting, and documenting data.Arguably, the Hindu civilization is the oldest continuing civilization that has a kaleidoscopic range of deities, theologies, and philosophies or their interpretations. Even the hierarchical positions of the deities vary in the cultural cosmology of the several sects that have evolved over thousands of years.Unlike the Abrahamic God, Hindu Gods do not like to sit on cloud nine to merely record the sins and good work of human beings; they descend on the earth in person to slay the evil and reward the pious. Since the incarnation of our gods is a recurring process and manifests in a new form every time, Hindus never run out of choices regarding the form of god they want to worship.Since time immemorial, Hindus have been worshipping their ‘Ishtadeva’ (favourite God) choosing Him/Her from a vast range of deities. If there is one deity who can be called an eternal king of Hindu civilization, it is none other than Sri Rama.रामो विग्रहवान् धर्मः साधुः सत्य पराक्रमः |राजा सर्वस्य लोकस्य देवानाम् इव वासवः || ३-३७-१३||“Rama is the embodiment of righteousness, he is an equable person with truthfulness as his valor, and as with Indra to all gods he is the king of the entire world. [3-37-13]. (third khand, 37th sarg, 13th shloka)Ayodhya, the capital of Sri Rama, is one of the seven sacred ‘puris’ or cities mentioned in the Hindu Dharmashastras. Modern-day Ayodhya is a small sleepy town in the erstwhile district of Faizabad, which has been renamed ‘Ayodhya’ by the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh. During my early visits to the sacred space as a boy, I remember the sadhus with flowing beards and Vaishnava tilak thronging the mathas (abodes of sanyasis, and so on) and singing Ram Dhun (songs in praise Lord Ram). Rama Nam echoed in the atmosphere along with Ravindra Jain’s divine bhajans from the popular tele-serial Ramayana. Ayodhya town was dotted with mandirs and mahals dedicated to the other characters of Ramayana. To have the darshan of ‘Ram Lalla virajaman’, one had to pass through a maze of iron cages, only to be nudged by a constable who would keep repeating ‘Yahi hai Ram Janam Bhumi’ (this is the Ramjanma Bhumi) at regular intervals.Thanks to my mother who belongs to a small village in the erstwhile Faizabad district, I grew up with stories of how villagers in the remote hinterland used to supply rations to passing packs of kar sevaks. Among these kar sevaks were believers who were convinced that the struggle of 498 years came to a desired end on the morning of November 9, 2019 when the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Babri Masjid title suit was delivered.Kashi &amp; Kyoto _ the contrastBe it Ayodhya or Kashi, our sacred sites had been badly neglected for too long. Renovation, conservation, and better facilities were much needed. The pool at the Ram ki Paidi of Ayodhya used to rot and open defecation on the ghats of rivers, be it Ganga ji or Sarayu ji, was a problem. In such a context, any move to ‘develop’ Kashi just like Kyoto, a heritage town in Japan, was welcome. Both Kashi and Kyoto have much in common when it comes to the intention and commitment to develop these cities, their administrators and the office-bearers do not have anything in common.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/kyoto_768x432_e20e7f0827.jpg" alt="kyoto-768x432.jpg"> Kyoto in JapanThe geography of Kashi has been interpreted as a web of cosmograms. Much is written about it in ‘Puranic’ literature, and book after book has been written by foreign as well as Indian scholars. Pandit Kubernath Sukul sought to meticulously map the Shivlingas and deva-vigrah mentioned in Skanda Purana and relate them to what could be their modern-day addresses. Prof Rana Singh did a geomagnetic survey of the entire sacred space of Kashi.With much pomp and grandeur, the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor was inaugurated but it was in contrast to the ways things are carried out in Kyoto. In Kyoto, the administration is committed to conserving the two thousand temples, monasteries, heritage buildings, and centuries-old trees. But the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor is a graveyard of more than hundreds of Pauranik (very ancient) temples, innumerable artefacts, heritage bhawans, ( Bhawan in Hindi means a building, normally a big building . A number of heritage bhawans in Varanasi and Ayodhya are buildings that house some temples, the sanyasis associated with them and they are also used by pilgrims during their visit to the towns) and 13 old trees, including the Akshayvat (a scared banyan tree). In Kyoto, the local community actively participates and the state acts as a guardian; in Kashi, local communities were demonized as ‘encroachers’ and the state acted like a ‘real estate agent’. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/kashi_varanasi_768x490_2e66abf85a.jpg" alt="kashi-varanasi-768x490.jpg">Kashi Viswanath TempleIn terms of the puranic literature and the cosmograms related to them, dharohar (a rough Hindi translation of the word ‘heritage’) is referred to as a ‘spatial functional symbol that links locality and universality, consisting of four hierarchically interspersed layers. These are sthan (site), parikshetra (a defined territory), simant (border region) and brahmanda (cosmos). Hindu teerth is just not a piece of land but a reflection of cultural astrology. The shastras are very specific about the code of conduct and rituals that need to be followed on the sthan and within the parikshetra.Pilgrimage and its associated routes (yatra path) are the most important parts of religious as well as civilizational heritage. The fire of civilization is preserved when the present generation treads the same route once taken by its ancestors, chants the same mantras, visits the same shrines enroute, and offers the same paraphernalia to the deities.Importance of Ayodhya’s five pilgrimage routesThe Teerth Kshetra of Ayodhya has five pilgrimage routes as per the above perspective. These are the Chaurasi kroshi, Chaudah Kroshi, Panchkroshi, RamKot ki parikrama, and antahgrahi ki parikrama. All these routes are demarcated with shrines and temples that are described in ancient texts.Chaurasikroshi (literally the path of 84) is considered to be the oldest route, and is believed to be associated with 148 sites and the number ‘84’ ingrained in the path’s name symbolises the 84 lakh species that a jeevaatma (soul) is supposed to evolve through before having a human body. A Chaurasikroshi Parikrama (a ritualistic perambulation of the path of 84) is performed for 36 days. The next one, the Chaudahkorshi (the path of 14) is linked to 36 sacred places and is believed to be associated with the life of Sri Ram. The Panchkroshi (the path of 5) refers to the core area that is associated with the 30 most sacred spaces related to the birth of Sri Ram and is completed within six hours.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20230301_WA_0002_768x432_1_07af9e61e0.jpg" alt="IMG-20230301-WA0002-768x432 (1).jpg"> A file pic from Ayodhya before the demolitionsThe last two parikramas Ramkot ki parikrama and antargrahi, are not much in vogue. All these pilgrimage routes are concentric circles. The antargrahi is like the inner circle and Chaurasikroshi is the outer circle. There is a prominent stream of opinion among believers that the cultural rejuvenation and physical development of Ayodhya should be centered around these pilgrimage routes with the active participation of archeologists, conservationists, and local citizens.But what is happening in Ayodhya now, including the rampant demolition of buildings over a distance of nearly 14 kilometers, is contrary to this perspective on the cultural rejuvenation and physical development of the town. Though the right wing loves to chant the mantra of ‘decolonizing Hindu minds’, its political leadership and the bureaucracy are not free from a colonial hangover. I shuddered when I heard that a particular ‘bureaucrat’ was sent to Ayodhya to execute the development project because he can be rightfully called the ‘mastermind’ behind the successful execution of a completely characterless and lifeless corridor in Varanasi.Demolition of heritageMy nightmare turned real. Videos of devastation started pouring in, with citizens weeping over the loss of their properties and the meager compensation provided by the state. One of my acquaintances shared a video of the demolition of properties on the road that connects ‘Naya Ghat’ to ‘Hanuman Gadhi’. That route had one of the oldest heritage temples and Bhawan on its sides. Legally, the structures older than a century should be conserved under the expert guidance of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) or the Indian National Trust for Art and Heritage (INTACH but these were being ruthlessly hammered down by contractors.A local daily reported that portions of heritage bhawans such as Lakshman Qila, SiyaRam Kila, and Sadguru Sadan, and a few small temples on the Chaudahkroshi route would be demolished for widening the roads. Having witnessed firsthand the barbarism of extremely arrogant and cultureless officials in Varanasi, these demolitions did not shock me much. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20230301_WA_0003_768x434_67688c46e3.jpg" alt="IMG-20230301-WA0003-768x434.jpg">Demolished heritage buildingsOn a chilly noon on December 9, 2022, I took a bus to Ayodhya from Lucknow. On reaching Ayodhya, the first thing that caught my attention was a giant veena installed at the center of a road. My friend who came to receive me told me that the son of the erstwhile Raja was a huge fan of Lata Mangeshkar and even wrote a book on her. The veena was installed in her honor and inaugurated by none other than Narendra Modi.As we started to walk from Naya Ghat to Birla Dharmshala, debris was piled up on the sides of the road and shopkeepers were trying to rearrange their makeshift shops. Dust filled the atmosphere and smog made the weather more depressing. Something did not appear right, something was missing.Near Gandhi Ashram, lakhori bricks peeked out of the partially demolished arches of Ram Janki Shukla Mandir like the broken jaw of a poor man who had been sucker-punched for no reason. It was a double-story temple built in 1872 by a Brahmin family from Barabanki. The portion of the temple used for Satsang (spiritual discourse or gathering), known as Jagmohan, was torn down because it was obstructing ‘development’. The sanctum remained untouched.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20230301_WA_0004_768x426_dd66463ed2.jpg" alt="IMG-20230301-WA0004-768x426.jpg"> Demolished buildingsNext to the Shukla Temple stood the ‘Lal Mohariya Chah Bhaiyya Dharsmshala’, with a temple inside the premises. It was owned by a family of the ‘teerth purohit’ of the erstwhile Royals of Nepal. The owner Devendra Nath Mishra was satisfied with the compensation and felt relieved that his temple remained untouched. But he was confused as to why the state was erasing the heritage structure. He showed me the image of his ornate and intricately carved boundary wall that was demolished and said, ‘foreigners are coming to see the indigenous architecture’ and not the grand doors in modern designs.I was intrigued to see a wide space adjacent to the other side of the Shukla Mandir. Magnificent twin temples that once stood there are now part of history. Anyone who has not seen the old images of these temples cannot even imagine their majesty. These were the first temples to be bulldozed in December 2022. I reached one of the most aesthetic ‘Birla’ Dharamshala whose boundary walls were demolished for widening the road. Since there is a big garden and a temple in the front portion, the dharmshala escaped demolition.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;(To be continued in <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/the-missing-ram-rajya-in-new-ayodhya-part-2/">Part 2</a>)<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">To watch the video story click here <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/hl-evictions-temple-demolitions-and-the-new-ayodhya/">Hindi</a>, <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/evictions-temple-demolitions-and-the-new-ayodhya/">English</a> &amp; <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/ml-evictions-temple-demolitions-and-the-new-ayodhya/">Malayalam</a><hr><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Subscribe to our channels on&nbsp;<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM">YouTube</a>&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq">WhatsApp</a>

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This episode of “EAR TO THE GROUND“, the unique series from The AIDEM presenting offbeat ground-level reports that go beyond the mainstream media has its focus on the ongoing developments in Ayodhya, including the rampant destruction of buildings, temples as well as other places of worship in the name of building a Ram Corridor in the same pattern as the Varanasi Vishwanath corridor. 

The Missing ‘Ram Rajya’ in New Ayodhya (Part 1) 

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Ear to the Ground is a special feature by The AIDEM that reports on offbeat field reports on people’s lives and livelihood issues.

Homeless in Prime Minister’s Varanasi…

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">In Ayodhya, a new Ram Path (Ram corridor) modelled after the Kashi Viswanath Mandir corridor in Varanasi is coming up. As in Varanasi, what we are witnessing in Ayodhya now is frenzied demolitions for the new project. Many old buildings have already been razed along with&nbsp;&nbsp;centuries-old small temples that come in the way of the proposed corridor. So far, around 40 temples have been bulldozed and demolished. As the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath marches ahead with this so-called reclamation of Ayodhya as a modern temple town, those who have lost their houses and livelihoods are the very people who supported the Ram Janmbhoomi movement by cooking food for the kar sevaks and offering them shelter.<hr><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Watch this story in&nbsp;<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/ml-evictions-temple-demolitions-and-the-new-ayodhya/">Malayalam</a>, <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/hi-evictions-temple-demolitions-and-the-new-ayodhya">Hindi</a><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Ear to the Ground is a special feature by The AIDEM that reports on offbeat field reports on people’s lives and livelihood issues. Read previous reports, <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/tag/ear-to-the-ground/">here</a>.<hr><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Subscribe to our channels on <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM">YouTube</a> &amp; <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq">WhatsApp</a>

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In Ayodhya, a new Ram Path (Ram corridor) modelled after the Kashi Viswanath Mandir corridor in Varanasi is coming up.

Evictions, temple demolitions and the new Ayodhya

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Ear to the Ground is a special feature by The AIDEM that reports on offbeat field reports on people’s lives and livelihood issues. “Dard”: On the Footsteps of a Poet Who Called Himself Pain” is a ground report by Devangana Rajeev after a photo walk in the Hazrat Khwaja Mir Dard Colony.

“Dard”: On the Footsteps of a Poet Who Called Himself Pain

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Turmoil, Triumph (of sorts) and Tyranny In a Decentralisation Platform Marred By Caste Oppression

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How the Ram Temple Made BJP Lose Ayodhya

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Permanently On the Precipice: Sujatha’s Life As Panchayat President And After

Malayalam (ml)

Tamil (ta)

English (en)

Hindi (hi)

Telugu (te)

Kannada (kn)

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Dancing To Her Tune

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An Unwritten National Autobiography

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_1_6258d15665.jpeg" alt="images-1.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_1_6258d15665.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_1_6258d15665.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">People who read literature in India knew him, MT Vasudevan Nair. Language was no hurdle for his works to reach out beyond the state borders of Kerala. While Malayali diaspora took a handful of nostalgia along to the places they went, a little bit of MT was also in that.Today, the big business of literature finds translators to translate anything that moves. All tetrapods of literature are given awards that stink of corporate imperialistic nexus. But MT belonged to a different era when blood recognised blood, genius recognised genius. He got translated not once but several times.Basheer, Takazhi and MT were the triumvirate that could transcend the borders and stand tall among the Indian modernist literature. Yes, MT’s literature also had a fair amount of auto-fiction but he hoodwinked it with the magic of text. He was a persuasive minimalist both in writing and in person.An unsmiling MT could generate generations of readers who could smile through tears. MT wrote about a collapsing social structure that divested the old feudal class with their ill-gotten properties. But their social capital remained intact and could exert a lot of influence among the readers by becoming the surrogate emotional ethos of a transition time of Kerala’s socio-political history.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:1196px;" id="attachment_31084" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31084"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg" alt="mt-1024x575.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 750w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31084">MT during his Interview with Sabha TV (Watch <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NttnjeaVqn0">Here</a>)</figcaption></figure>When society evolved into a different being altogether, MT turned to the treasure trove of myths and itihasas to eke out allegories that explained the pain of loss, of class, roots and love. His literature spat on the face of bigotry, whether it was religious or familial. He was so stoically poised in his literature that none could have challenged him and expelled him from the world of literature.MT’s literature spoke of love and separation as vehemently as he wrote about the changing social complexions. But he was not sentimental. There was something in his writing that touched some chord in every reader. Before initiating themselves into Ambedkarite politics, the Dalit ideologues also, in their torturous nights of youth, pined for MT’s characters.Those who call the modernists, Dad Vibes, have really lost the sight of the forest while focusing on shrubs and thicket. MT was a forest that moved, as in the great tragedies. He remained a serious writer while the post modernists fell in the trap of publishers and wrote lightning stories and became laughing stokes.MT remains, so is the MT critique. That’s the beauty of a great writer’s life and of course, death.</div></div>

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MT: A Forest that Moved

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An ‘Overture’ Stringing The Pope, Yesudas and the ‘Songster Chaplain’

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/1_cc9df0fe47.png" alt="വലതുപക്ഷവുമായുള്ള-സംവാദത്തിൻ്റെ-വ്യർത്ഥത-1.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_1_cc9df0fe47.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_1_cc9df0fe47.png 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">When old age shall this generation waste,Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woeThan ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is allYe know on earth, and all ye need to know.” (John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn)<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/6_904b2e9f2a.jpg" alt="6.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_6_904b2e9f2a.jpg 147w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_6_904b2e9f2a.jpg 470w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Siddharth Tagore, Founder Director of Delhi’s <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/artkonsultindia/photos">Art Konsult</a> Gallery is no more. He cannot be contained in such a cold statement, so matter of fact like death itself. Besides the gallery, he founded magazines such as Art and Deal, Travel and Deal and many other publications. Even when he knew that he wouldn’t make any profit out of the publications, he invested money in them because he knew art wouldn’t survive without the literature surrounding it.&nbsp;Yet another venture of Tagore’s was an auction house, namely Art Bull. The name was perfect for a bullish art market of the 2000s. But the glitch was this: Siddharth Tagore was not bullish. Nor was he bearish. He was cherubic, complete with a benign smile on his face and a burning cigarette between his fingers. Whenever I came out after having a meeting with him, I would ask myself, was he cut for this business?&nbsp;Tagore could have been a poet and dreamer like his internationally renowned namesake of yesteryears.. After the pandemic period I met Tagore after a gap of four years at the Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre where Art Konsult had organized a group exhibition. After the inaugural function, I shook hands with him and I realized that his hands had lost the firm grip though the warmth remained. “I have not been keeping well,” he told me.&nbsp;<div class="gallery galleryid-31051 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:30px -8.96875px 0px;padding:0px;" id="gallery-1"><figure class="gallery-item" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:0px 0px 1rem;max-width:33.33%;padding:0px 8.96875px 17.9531px;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;width:262.609px;"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg" alt="c-768x993.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg 121w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg 387w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg 580w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure><figure class="gallery-item" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:0px 0px 1rem;max-width:33.33%;padding:0px 8.96875px 17.9531px;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;width:262.609px;"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg" alt="b-768x985.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg 122w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg 390w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg 585w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure><figure class="gallery-item" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:0px 0px 1rem;max-width:33.33%;padding:0px 8.96875px 17.9531px;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;width:262.609px;"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/a_7888f94e4b.jpg" alt="a.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_a_7888f94e4b.jpg 121w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_a_7888f94e4b.jpg 385w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_a_7888f94e4b.jpg 577w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure></div>Then on another occasion, at the same gallery, I met him again, this time without the crowd. He preferred to wear a pair of fading blue jeans and white shirt, a reminder of those romantic 1970s when every youth in West Bengal dreamt of poetry, love and revolution. Jeans and Shirt were the uniform of love and revolution. I think, when Tagore came to Delhi as a young man, he carried those qualities along, plus his sense of dressing. Lovers in those days smoked rather constantly and drank Old Monk Rum.&nbsp;On that day when I met him, Tagore told me that he had quit smoking, which was news to me. I couldn’t have imagined the man without a cigarette between his fingers or at least a packet of cigarettes to fuss with. I understood the gravity of the situation.&nbsp;Then again, we met when Praveen Upadhyay of the Progressive Gallery at Laddo Sarai organized a talk session with art professionals that included Tagore, Prayag Shukla, Vinod Bharadwaj and myself. Tagore was supposed to talk about the art market. When the mike was handed over to him, he fussed with it for a while and said that he always wanted to make it big by promoting young artists, but somehow, he never made huge business.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:689px;" id="attachment_31054" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31054"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg" alt="7-768x511.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg 235w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31054">Siddharth speaking to the media at Art Konsult</figcaption></figure>Then I remembered Tagore telling the same during the market boom years that lasted in India for around ten years starting from 2005 to 2015. In 2008, the world market had collapsed, but the Indian art market using its cunning and reserve withstood the pressures and dragged the impending failure for a few more years only to revive itself by the beginning of the third decade of the new millennium.&nbsp;Had Tagore acquired a penchant for failure despite his resilience in running a gallery, publications and an auction house for over three and a half decades ? Did he enjoy calling himself a failure in the art market? Was he romantically involved with the idea of failure even when he kept others who were with him in the business, floating? I don’t know for sure. But Tagore remained grounded and rooted; he tried his best to keep himself away from the nefarious market practices.&nbsp;There were a few people who stood with Tagore in his highs and lows (lows that lasted for not some months but for years together), never deserting him, following his orders. Prashant Seal and Rajula Bisht are two people I remember. These two people have been so close to his heart and even after his twin daughters joining him in the business, both Seal and Bisht never lost their position as the confidantes of Tagore. He loved them like family.&nbsp;I met Siddharth Tagore in 1995. He had started Art Konsult in Hauz Khas Village. Meena Tagore (now Meena Varma) was with him then. Late Vijayan Kannanpally was the editor of Art and Deal. With the growth of art scene, Tagore’s gallery also grew in stature. Art Konsult was one of the few A listed galleries in the city. Tagore took it to South Delhi’s art district, Laddo Sarai during the boom years and later relocated it to Hauz Khas again.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:562px;" id="attachment_31055" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31055"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg" alt="0-768x512.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg 234w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31055">Siddharth Tagore with art critic and curator Jyoti A Kathpalia at the Art Konsult, New Delhi</figcaption></figure>It was in his Laddo Sarai phase that I joined him as the Editor of Art and Deal. It was the same when he decided to start Art Bull and Travel and Deal. I brought out around ten issues of Art and Deal between 2010 and 2013, with a gap in 2012 when I joined the United Art Logistics to establish the United Art Fair. Tagore literally lent me to the other organization with a promise that I could walk into the editor’s office at any time that I wanted. And I did go back.&nbsp;As a part of Tagore’s team, he gave me full freedom to edit the magazine and curate exhibitions. I curated a few shows and introduced a few new artists of which some are very reckonable names in today’s art scene. The exhibition ‘Merging/Submerging’ was a showcasing of contemporary photography art and ‘R.A.P.E’ (Rare Acts of Political Engagement), an all-woman show responding to the brutal murder of Nirbhaya in Delhi. This exhibition was a super hit and was discussed in all the print and television media. Art Bull did do a couple of exhibitions and auctions. I did not take much interest in it though Tagore hoped that his auction house could change the scenario and also break certain monopolies. Tagore also initiated an Art History Lecture series which I conducted on his behalf.&nbsp;Siddharth Tagore remained true to his calling. With a kind of detachment, he sponsored exhibitions that he knew well, would not bring any business. He was an avid collector of folk and tribal art and together with Meena Varma, he initiated an organization called ‘Art of the Earth’ for promoting the folk and tribal art of India, much before the ‘folkploitation’ of today’s art market became rampant. Tagore helped whoever came to him with a request for an exhibition or an immediate financial relief. &nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:640px;" id="attachment_31053" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31053"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg" alt="3-e1734762508660-669x1024.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 102w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 327w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 490w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 653w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31053">Siddharth Tagore signing the <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://amzn.in/d/4TijcgO">book</a> “Ganika- In the visual culture of the 19th-20th Century India” at the Art Konsult</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg" alt="4-560x1024.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 85w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 273w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 410w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 547w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">When artists in Calcutta packed their wares and set out for Delhi, they knew Siddharth Tagore was there if nothing else worked (perhaps he was their primary destination), along with cigarettes and Old Monk Rum. He never discouraged the people who came to him with a clear intention to exploit. He was not cautious about relationships that brought him a fair amount of heartburn. As I said elsewhere, Tagore was a poet in his heart, with a heart ready to bleed for love and art.</div></div>

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