Not too long ago has the business model of turning forts and palaces into lavish hotels taken firm roots in India. Delhi-based heritage management consultant Amita Baig — with half a heart — agrees, “It is one way of conserving our palaces” (“Bringing out postcards on them is another way”). But if given her way, it would rather be an elaborate book on the subject, she states. Something that she “can share with everybody.”
In fact, Baig, jointly with architect and photographer Joginder Singh, has recently published one such book. Titled “Forts & Palaces of India”, it is a coffee table book published by Om Books. A spread of 253 pages with words and full-size colour photographs, it is a close peek at what these vestiges of royalty are all about. Baig's Introduction in the book sets the ball rolling. In few words, she succinctly stitches together periods of Indian history lineally — from Mohenjodaro to the colonial times — creating the mood to peruse the tome of a book.
States Baig, “I had a lot of fun doing the book; I didn't want it to be scholarly or of just academic value simply because India is not about didactic histories alone.” After being in the field of conservation for 25 years, she felt, “it needs to be put across to readers what I had learnt.”
Baig and Singh have principally zoomed their interest on forts here. “We have covered a few palaces also only because they are inside a fort,” she clarifies. The forts are divided as per their age. So a little known Kalinjar fort in Uttar Pradesh, a redolent remnant of the Vedic era, opens the book. “Many legends are attributed to this historic fort. According to one, Kalinjra, son of king Bharata, is said to be its founder while another claims it to be the abode of Lord Shiva,” says Baig. “Central to the sacred geography of Kalinjar is the Patal Ganga or underground Ganga, which surfaces in a cave carved with sacred images,” mentions the book.
Historic forts
Among the ancient forts are those of Bandavgarh with the Buddhi Talab, mentioned in the Mahabharata, Sisupalgarh (Bhubaneswar), Ranthambore and Bhatinda. The next lot includes the Rajput forts, perhaps the most exposed ones to readers in North India. In competition are the Sultanate forts in Golconda, Kotla Feroz Shah, Bijapur and Daulatabad. Falaknuma Palace and Chaumuhalla Palace too find place in this section.
Delhi's Purana Quila and Lal Quila, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri form the Mughal forts segment. The Sikh forts have the usual suspects like the Kapurthala fort.
However, the segment on Bundelkhand forts brings to fore a handful of little-known forts, like the one in Datia, Samthar and Ajaigarh. The Samthar fort, “is one of the more ambitious fortifications built in the 17th Century.” Samthar was a powerful Gujjar kingdom when the Moghul Empire was disintegrating and the Marathas were gaining ground in Central India. It also flaunts pictures of intricate rock carvings from the Ajaigarh fort.
Edifices from Hampi, Padmanabhapuram, etc., sprout in the Southern fort section. Points out Baig, “Padmanabhapuram was one of my best experiences; away from invasions, loot and pillage, this Travancore fort has some original paintings even today.” She also points out, “There is no conservation work happening in the Maratha forts (covered later in the book).”
Baig's book covers the less exposed hill forts in Kangra, Nurpur and Basgo too. The Eastern fort segment exhibits Ramnagar fort by the river Ganga, the majestic Tripura and Hazarduari forts and Burduwan Summer Palace. The book ends with a segment on such constructions by the Portuguese, French, Danish and the British.
With the right pictures complementing Baig's commentary, the book is a laudable effort. And Baig is all praise for Archaeological Survey of India for this. “They helped a lot, facilitated our access to the forts before the public visiting hours,” she says. Researching on the subject didn't take too long though. “There is information out there, since I was not going into primary research I needed to do only cross-checking.”
All for preserving the legacy, Baig comes up with a pertinent suggestion here, “Our forts have to be invigorating, they can't be just static buildings. A way of introducing people to them would perhaps be to make them camp sites.”
