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Vol 24 No. 1/2010 ISSN 0970 5074 IndiaVOL 24 NO. 1/2010 Perspectives Man milking a cow, Krishna Mandapa, Mamallapuram, 7th century. This is an endearing image of a cow being milked, while she lovingly licks her calf. Such depictions bring alive the village scene made in the Krishna Mandapa cave. Photograph: Benoy K Behl. Editor Navdeep Suri Assistant Editor Neelu Rohra India Perspectives is published in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Sinhala, Spanish, Tamil and Urdu. Views expressed in the articles are those of the contributors and not necessarily of India Perspectives. All original articles, other than reprints published in India Perspectives, may be freely reproduced with acknowledgement. Editorial contributions and letters should be addressed to the Editor, India Perspectives, 140 ‘A’ Wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001. Telephones: +91-11-23389471, 23388873, Fax: +91-11-23385549 E-mail: [email protected], Website: http://www.meaindia.nic.in For obtaining a copy of India Perspectives, please contact the Indian Diplomatic Mission in your country. This edition is published for the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi by Navdeep Suri, Joint Secretary, Public Diplomacy Division. Designed and printed by Ajanta Offset & Packagings Ltd., Delhi-110052. Bonding through Melody: Tribute Indian Music Goes Global Leela Naidu Editorial MADHUSREE CHATTERJEE 32 SMM AUSAJA 75 In this issue of India Perspectives, the fi rst one of 2010, we bring to our readers an unusual blend of articles that refl ect not just India’s magnifi cent cultural heritage but also its growing technological sophistication. Aesthetic Grandeur Benoy Behl’s essay on the fi nesse displayed by our craftsmen in of Mughal Gardens the 7 th century temples at Mamallapuram is juxtaposed with SHUBHRA MAZUMDAR 2 Shubhra Mazumdar’s write up on the aesthetics and symmetry Dhokra Craft: Heritage Sports of the Mughal Gardens. Leela Venkatraman links Protima Bedi’s Transcending Time Hockey on Horse Back: dramatic encounter with Odissi dance with the establishment REKHA SHANKAR 38 Manipuri’s Traditions of Nrityagram, while Madhushree Chatterjee brings out the of Polo growing global popularity of different strands of Indian music. Lucknow DEBABRATA BANERJEE 78 and its Street Food To add variety, we explain the intricacies of Dhokra craft and Sacred Plants in the inducements of Lucknow’s street cuisine. The articles on ANIL MEHROTRA 44 Indian Lore... Manipur’s tradition of polo and on India’s sacred plants, the PRAN NEVILE 82 tribute to Leela Naidu and the report on the Jaipur Literature A New Spring in Festival continue our magazine’s tradition of bringing a diverse India-Bangladesh Ties menu of cultural offerings to our readers. MANISH CHAND 50 The Indian Institute of Science, now a hundred years old, Living Rocks of Mamallapuram Bandra-Worli Sea Link: provides the bridge between the ancient and the modern, An Engineering Marvel BENOY K BEHL 12 between the cultural and the technological. It is part of our QUAID NAJMI 54 on-going series to profi le some of India’s fi nest academic institutions and leads us to the quartet of articles on science and Automobiles technology. The two on tele-medicine and on stem cells research Designed to Win The Charms of the explore the quest for cutting-edge technology for delivery of ANNAMMA OOMMEN 58 Jaipur Literature Festival high quality and affordable health care, while the ones on AMRIT DHILLON 86 automobiles and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link are a testimony to One Hundred Years of design and engineering skills. The Indian Institute Book Review The important visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the of Science Himalaya: View from a wide-ranging agreements signed during the visit add a slight P. BALARAM 66 Camera in the Clouds political fl avour to this issue. A unique experiment in SUDHIR SAHI 94 Our next issue will be a special edition on Rabindranath Tagore Tele-Medicine 70 but more about that later. Meanwhile, happy reading. As always, wewe valuevalue yyour feedback. Nrityagram and Stem Cells towards a the Passion for Dance Disease-Free Tomorrow Front cover: Bijayini Satpathy LEELA VENKATARAMAN 22 RICHA SHARMA 72 and Surupa Sen in an Odissi pose. Photo: Deepak Mudgal NavdeepNavdeep Suri Aesthetic Grandeur of Mughal Gardens SHUBHRA MAZUMDAR A garden by any yardstick is an ordered design of the outdoors, particularly if the garden is one of the numerous Mughal gardens in India, designed to exude the feeling of an exquisitely enclosed bit of paradise on earth, through its dignifi ed rules of layout philosophy. or the emperor himself, the garden space was an Fexterior imagery depicting the grandeur of the imperial power, while for the mystic and religious minded, its serene landscape embodied the concept of the Charbagh (four gardens) or the even older concept, described in the Book of Genesis, of a river that ran out of the Garden of Eden and thereafter, parted into ‘four heads’. Paradoxically, this highbrow thematic connection with ideology completely sloughs off when one is actually inside one of the Mughal gardens. What strikes one at that time is the manner in which the space Amit Mehra Nishat Garden, Srinagar, Kashmir INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 1/2010 2 INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 1/2010 3 has been arranged for both Their rectangular arrangement sides carved, with the wash of utility and ornamentation. The is the most economical way of the stream running over these engineering skill of constructed irrigating land. Instead of letting designed engravings. In the water channels to irrigate the these channels run mundanely moonlight, when the carvings garden forms its rigid persona. the Mughal penchant for were obliterated, the pearly On the other hand, the planted aesthetics exploited this lustre of the water element fruit trees and exotic plant essential element into the focal suggested a living force, species growing luxuriantly, point of their garden art. caressed by the surroundings. relay a comfortable duality of Using feats of engineering, Who then were the builders form and freedom. visual appeal and even aural of these gardens? Apart from Currently, these gardens might accents the water was made the emperors themselves, it have outlived their horticultural to descend into the garden was the princesses of the royal importance as fruit orchards from a height, simulating the household who have left their or botanical exhibits, but their effect of a cascading waterfall. mark on garden building in close link with agricultural Dismissing notions of creating Mughal times. The very fi rst traditions lives on, as these the wild outdoors, these signifi cant one of them was Chasma Shahi and Shalimar Bagh, spaces were outstanding channels were contained within Hamida Banu Begum, the Srinagar (right & below) and Charbagh, Agra (facing page). examples of water utilization. a stone cascade, which had its principal widow of Emperor Amit Mehra INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 1/2010 4 INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 1/2010 5 Humayun, who had ordered a piece of paradise. Centuries oasis of peace away from the was nurtured at the emperor’s the idea of eternity. The dark garden to be laid around the later, other princesses of the intrigues of the Mughal court. behest. Naturally, ceremonial cypress tree symbolized the tomb of the late emperor. It royal household, notably the At about this time, one of the occasions of importance were dark unknown, or death. It became the fi rst tomb garden in daughters of the Emperor Shah Emperor’s wives Akbarabadi, preferably held in the garden, was invariably intertwined India, with its 30-acre premises Jahan, pursued the art with built a garden in Delhi’s explaining why Aurangzeb chose with a fl owering creeper or adjoining the banks of the river aplomb. Princess Jahanara, Shalimar Bagh. It was a replica to be crowned at the Shalimar a rose in bloom, symbolizing Yamuna. While incorporating carried the tradition to the town of the garden by that name in Bagh, rather than the grander life. The cycle of life and the the Charbagh design style of Ambala, located at the water Kashmir. Red Fort, built by his father. continuation of eternity was of Emperor Babur, its square divide between the Ganga and even engraved in stone as Not just pleasure retreats for In life as in death, the garden grid was subdivided with the Indus river systems. is evident in the fl oral inlay royalty, the Mughal garden also complex of the Mughals was help of water channels. A wall adorning the Taj Mahal. Her sister Roshanara, has left symbolised territorial control. to serve the emperor in equal built of rubble surrounded this behind Delhi’s Roshanara The emperor resided in this measure. Hence the plants for Settings for these cameo-like Bagh, earlier a surround of orderly space and every blade these gardens were chosen spaces of greenery was another The garden around the tomb of Emperor Humayun at New Delhi. dense forestry, creating an and every bough, grew and with a view to keeping alive of the astute aspects of the Ashok Dilwali INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 1/2010 6 INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 1/2010 7 Indian Mughal Garden. They were showcased beside the bank of a river, nestling at the bottom of a hillside, or overlooking a valley. Of the latter, the best example is the garden built in Kashmir, between the surrounding hills of the valley and beside the largest natural lake of the state, the Dal Lake. The fl ow of water as it is channelised from a height, gives the feeling of life coursing through the veins of greenery. The placid lakefront and the progression of majestic chinar plantings simulate the approach of the emperor.