Religion of built heritage: Temples and Islamic monuments of Delhi
The contemporary coalition of globalisation and neoliberalism has vastly altered the attitude of urban society after India opened up to the free market in the beginning of the ’90s. These processes have resulted in the huge transformation of the city space, land use and reorganisation of urban governance. Cityscapes in this country serve as interesting entry points in to a diverse and extremely complex lived experience that entails on one hand a rapidly developing component, and an almost time-warped historical presence on the other. This dichotomy is perhaps the starkest in Delhi, where the ancient and the über modern exist in disjunct harmony. Delhi’s historical past is perceived in the easiest way through its built heritage. The capital was the seat of both the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Dynasty and each of these rules have left a remarkable number of buildings, some of which still survive as museumised spaces in the city. No, this is not an article on the historical monuments you must visit in Delhi. Any good guide book will take care of that. This article is more about the geography they inhabit, a strange yet palpably living space that takes into account the religion of the maker or patron of the particular structure.
“This is an ancient space of worship. Bhairo has been worshipped here from time immemorial. The temple that you see today has been made possible with the help and donation of devotees,” explained the head priest at the Bhairo Temple, situated right next to Purana Qila, the maginificent fort built by Humayun and later re-built by Sher Shah Suri. I was tempted to ask the man that if the temple had been around Humyaun’s time, but given the fantastical time of an even more fantastical cosmology that he suggested, I decided to frame my questions a little differently. I exclaimed, “Really? I didn’t know that. That means the temple was here even before this fort was built.” “Beshak. Lekin ek baat bolna tha aapko. App patrakar log baat ka batangar bahut banate hai, to jab chapiyega, to kripa karke mera naam mat daalna. Kya pata kal dus history wale mere peeche par jeyenge (Of course. But I have one thing to say. You journalist types make mountains out of mole hills so when you print this, don’t mention my name. Who knows — tomorrow ten his-
Most historical monuments, especially built by Islamic rulers have a temple dedicated to a god from the Hindu pantheon.
tory walahs might come after me).” He remains unnamed. The next time you go around the city on a historical monument trail, train your eye to look around or beyond a bit. Most historical monuments, especially built by Islamic rulers have a temple dedicated to a god from the Hindu pantheon. What is more interesting is that all these temples claim to be ancient. So much so, that the signboards all have the word “pracheen” on them, whether it’s the Pracheen Bhiro Mandir at Purana Qila or Pracheen Hanuman Mandir right next to the Safdarjung Tombs. This claim to antiquity is of particular interest in this context. When such a claim is made, one is somehow referring to historical veracity, rather than some divine ordination. But “pracheen” temples are not hard to miss in Delhi, wherever they may be located. It is perhaps only befitting that a “pracheen” ought to have “pracheen” temples. Don’t get me wrong here, dear readers. I am neither speaking against the building of temples — people are entitled to make use of public space in whatever way they want —nor am I discounting the transformatory role religion plays in the everyday of this country. What I am trying to say that it perhaps something more than just curious that monuments of a demonstrable Islamic heritage tend to have an ancient temple around them. No, there are no disputes about certain gods being born in a particular spot in these cases, nor are most these monuments places of worship. It is more about a Hindu reclamation of an Islamic past. Can built heritage and geography be marked by religion? Can religious bigotry be dealt with by building temples and mosques? Is it ever possible to encounter our shared past, unmediated by the orthodoxies of organised religion? The answer to these, dear readers, Bulle Shah answers best: Bhaj bhaj warna ay mandir maseeti Te kaday mann apnay wich warya ee na ( You run to enter temples and mosques But you never entered your own heart) emotionally, and there was probably no way we’d be able to afford it. Just the annual tuition fee at any decent school would be enough to drive us to bankruptcy. And then of course, there are the trials and tribulations of actually raising the kid right in a world that’s turning more messed up and dystopian every month. Why would you ever want to expose a new human being to that?
But then there comes a time when all our maternal instincts start acting up, and we’d like a small creature to love and cuddle and watch, and more importantly, to give us company in our empty homes. This is where the cats come in. A kitten is probably the most low-maintenance pet you can get (apart from fish, I suppose, but they’re not very interesting as pets) and also the most entertaining baby substitute. I watched jealously as one by one, all my close friends adopted kittens and went from the kind of people who’d return from raging parties at 3 a.m. to the kind that went straight home after work because they had to feed the cat.
For all intents and purposes, having a cat seems to be turning into the default parenting experience for my generation, and I’d go so far as to say that it’s largely preferable to actually having a baby. The pros of being a cat-parent begin right at the adoption stage, where you can pick out a creature to take home without putting your body through nine months of pregnancy trauma. The pros continue as you settle the little thing into your home and realise just how little attention they need after a certain point. After a cat has been toilet trained, all you really have to is make sure there’s always food in their bowl, and that their litter tray is clean, and they pretty much take care of themselves in every other way. A feline is a rather comforting presence to have in your house, especially if you’re the kind of person who likes their own space. The cat will simply mind its own business and sprawl in a comfortable corner, eating when it wants, entertaining itself as it sees fit. Quite the perfect accompaniment for someone who lives alone.
Most of the stereotypes you hear about cats are based on facts, except for the one where people insist that cats are coldhearted emotionless creatures who don’t feel any sense of loyalty to their humans. Sure, they’re nonchalant and calm at the best of times, but no cat-parent who’s woken up to feel a curled up fur ball fast asleep in the crook of their neck can deny that their cat feels some sense of love (or more probably, ownership), towards them. They’ll comfort you on a bad day (when they feel like) and they’re small enough to cuddle and toss around. And they can be entertained with a mere piece of string. We of the smartphone generation could learn much from the domestic cat.
All my cat-owner friends have seemed to be akin to the parents of toddlers now. Our conversations over drinks are now heavily taken over by the newest amusing feat of the new house kitten, or how a cat is reacting to a new feline presence in the house, discussions about the pros and cons of various pet food brands, vets, and neutering versus the alternative. It’s almost exactly like how women (and it’s almost always women) at social gatherings discuss their children. We all know we’re never going to actually have kids, because that’s just too… grown up, isn’t’ it? Once you have a child, you’re SETTLED, or at least, that’s how it almost always goes. Having a cat, however, allows us to retain our freewheeling, bohemian lives and ideals without really worrying about being responsible for an impressionable human being.
So if you’re feeling your parenting instincts tingle, get a cat. They’re fulfilling and very low maintenance and there are plenty of organisations that facilitate the adoption and fostering of cats. Plus you can be glad that you’re not adding to the country’s overpopulation problem.
Most of the stereotypes you hear about cats are based on facts, except for the one where people insist that cats are cold-hearted emotionless creatures who don’t feel any sense of loyalty to their humans.
Shalaka Pai is a writer and a photographer. She doesn’t have Instagram ( yet) and won’t spam your Facebook feed with badly watermarked photos of sunsets.