Satbir Silas

The eternal source from where Ganga originates.

Gaumukh
TREK TO MOTHER SOURCE
SANDEEP SILAS

G
angotri, a temple town, is a holy place for most Indians. It also
marks the end of pilgrimage for some and the beginning for
others. Being at a height of 3140m above sea-level, you can feel
here the piercing sharpness of the wind.
The religious significance of the place is immense, as many mythological
legends are associated with it. The most popular one has it that King
Bhagirath, unable to bear the suffering of his people due to water scarcity,
worshipped Lord Shiva at Gangotri. His devotion so pleased Lord Shiva
that He asked him for a boon. Bhagirath prayed that Ganga be released
from Lord Shiva’s hair locks for the benefit of his people. So was granted
Ganga to the earth. It is named after Bhagirath as river Bhagirathi from the
point of its descent at Gaumukh upto Dev Prayag. At Dev Prayag, river
Alaknanda merges with Bhagirathi and thence onwards it is called Ganga.

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 2

Satbir Silas
An arched gate at Gangotri, gifted
by the Border Police to the town,
welcomes all visitors. Everyone has
to pass through it – whether the
destination is Gangotri temple, the
bathing ghats or the steps leading
to the 18-km trek to Gaumukh –
from where Ganga emanates.
Gangotri temple is small. It is
erected on the sacred stone where
as per tradition King Bhagirath
worshipped Lord Shiva. The
building is non-ornamental, rather
ordinary in appearance. There are
no statues on the exterior and
its height is also about 12 feet.
E.T. Atkinson wrote of it in the
19th century: “It is quite plain,
coloured white with red mouldings,
and surmounted with the usual
melon-shaped ornament commonly
known as Turk’s cap.” The temple
is quite the same save that the Above: The Bhagirathi peaks (I, II & III)
at the dawn.
colour combination is now white Following page: Serenity at its peak...
walls and silver top. captured by Satbir Silas.
The serious trekkers take to the
steps, which connect the Gangotri
ghats and the trek route. Buy a
walking stick – you might need
three legs on the way ahead. The
river Bhagirathi is a pleasant
companion all through right upto
Gaumukh. Sometimes the mountain
rocks to your side echo the forceful
holler of rushing waves. Yes, the
river makes them sing. The snow
peaks enveloped forever in a
clouded embrace sit happily above
their unsteady glaciers. It is a treat
to lift the eyes from a rivulet
meeting the river bed; slowly caress
first the green cover, then the
black, rough and prominent crags;
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 3
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 4
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 5
 then allow the vision to melt in
the snow at upper reaches. The
trekking route is tough, full of
uneven stones, even dusty at times.
It is a real test for the muscles of
the legs. You really get to know
more about your own legs than you
believed. Tree trunks have been
used to bridge rivulets and one has
to balance steps lest the boulders
in the water have the last laugh.
The trek is a story of ascents and
descents. You rise again as the
path decides to lift itself from the
riverbed. It is good to feel the
heights. You tend to pause before
every new face of a snow peak,
which is revealed to you. The
edges of the black crags are to be
admired. The eyes can feel their
razor thin sharpness and also their
blunt prominence. The peaks
represent human aspirations,
leaping towards the sky, past the
fluffy clouds. They have left the
river of trials and tribulations,
ascended beyond the temptation
laden green conifers; they cannot
be held back by sentinel-like black
mountain precipices, they have to
glow like sunshine on the summit
and aim for the sky. What is their
destiny? What is the treasure they
seek? Perhaps, they will see the
face of beauty or have a vision of
the ultimate truth.
Shacks enroute provide plastic
comfort to weary travellers. They
offer simple snacks and even meals
– besides bottled water. Bite into
something at Chirbasa, nine
kilometer deep, from the origin of
the trek at Gangotri. Have some tea
with a dash of salt, it will pep you
up. The hamlet of Chirbasa is a
cluster of pines rushing from the
heights in a straight descent to the
riverbed. Shacks are perched on
space created between boulders on
Satbir Silas

the ridge. This ridge you cross.

Do not halt too long lest the legs

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 6

B.B. Mathur
refuse to lift again. Bhojbasa, five
kilometres ahead, has to be reached
for a night halt. And of course,
sunset must be enjoyed at Bhojbasa
before you hit the sack.
The flora along the trek route is
different and interesting. Ganga
Tulsi, a shrub with a heady scent,
used as an accompaniment during
Hindu worship, and White Jungle
Rose, each flower with only four
petals, almost line the route. Yellow
wildflowers too have a word to say!
Some concerned environmentalist
groups are trying not only
generating public awareness but
also giving a green cover to the
Himalayas where it is most needed.
So we see plantations of Spruce,
Silver Fir, Blue Pine and Himalayan
Cedar along the way. A little ahead The Gangotri temple (above) and
the river Bhagirathi – a “pleasant
of Chirbasa, some educationists companion” during trek to Gaumukh
nurse a Bhojpatra nursery. This which begins here (facing page).
effort at preserving a threatened
specie is laudable. The Bhojpatra
Utilis has a distinct white bark and
round green leaves. Its botanical
name is Betula Utilis. The bark of
this tree served as paper for
recording ancient Hindu religions
texts. I peel some. It is actually as
thin as finest quality paper. I keep
it as a memento, but it is not
enough to write a song!
There are no wild animals to sight,
save herds of mountain goat and
deer. The sun plays hide and seek
on a June afternoon. Clouds drift at
will. Sometimes you see a snow
mountain half-concealed by clouds
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 7
 and half-visible to the eyes. It is
like watching a Venus, thinly clad,
sensuous in demeanour and
amorous in the eye, whom you
would like to only see and not
touch!
The Bhagirathi river continues to
sing its song as we continue
The Neelkanth peak, as seen
from Badrinath.
B.B. Mathur
upstream. It is past 4 p.m. in the
evening. Our guide warns of falling
stones in a patch ahead. A warning
signboard and we smell trouble.
True enough it rains stones on the
route ahead. We do not carry hard
hats. I hide behind a huge boulder
clutching the hand of my 10-year
old son. Stones keep rolling down.
They can break bones or even
throw a person deep down towards
the riverbed by sheer impact. One
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
has to exercise caution. This
phenomenon in the evening is due
to harsh winds blowing across. The
mountains in this patch are loose
stones embedded in mud. Hence,
the peculiar rain.
The last leg to trek for the day to
Bhojbasa is tougher still. A stream
has to be crossed sans a log
bridge. You have to place your feet
in the bed on firm stones so as to
8
save your shoes from getting wet.
My son exclaims aloud – “Tough
route, tottering wooden bridges,
falling stones, icy wind, quite
deadly.” Still he makes the 14 km
trek in good seven hours. Alas my
desire of watching the sunset at
Bhojbasa is not fulfilled. The clouds
just whisked away the sun in a
swift move! I have to wait yet
another day braving the biting wind
on the Bhojbasa ridge. There is a
GMVN Tourist Rest House, an
Ashram and several shacks, which
serve as night shelter.
The Bhojbasa valley is panoramic.
It is really huge. Gaumukh is seen
as a cluster of rocks from this ridge.
It is the source of the river
Bhagrathi or Ganga, regarded by
Indians over the centuries as
mystical, spiritual and holy. Three
peaks of Mount Bhagirathi tower
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
above Gaumukh. It is an
unbelievable sight-one, which you
deserve in a lifetime. The three
summits, Bhagirathi I, II & III
perhaps symbolise the trinity of
beauty, truth and peace.
The morning was proclaimed in a
loud exclamation. The moon had
not left its rightful reign of the night
sky and the sun was raising
expectations of travellers as it
9
B.B. Mathur

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 10

B.B. Mathur
The Kedarnath temple (above), a bridge on
river Yamuna on way to Yamunotri (left)
and the Badrinath temple (facing page).
continued in its upward stride.
Straight above Gaumukh, the
cloud curtain was gradually
being lifted from over the three
Bhagirathi peaks. They were being
revealed like sacred verses are
spoken to listeners. If you lose
them in that pure moment they
are gone, sucked in by that
force, which transforms the
present into the past – the churning
wheel of time. Sure enough an
overpowering cloud fall barred the
snow peaks from sight in the next
few minutes.
The last four kilometers to
B.B. Mathur
Gaumukh are tougher. Especially
the very last! The trek reduces to
nothing but trapeze walk over
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 11
accumulated boulders. Only faith
and will power can take you ahead.
Finally Gaumukh, 4000 m above
sea-level, is reached. I find a perch
on a rock before the cave, the
source, and settle down to my
thoughts. As I look at Gaumukh,
I feel the sensuousness and
abundance of love. That love,
which knows no bounds. That love,
that giveth always and forever.
Gaumukh is a cave surrounded by
glacial bottle-green ice. Water, the
source and preserver of all life on
earth, keeps gushing out in good
measure. The spectacle is akin to a
mother giving birth to a child.
People bathe, pray here. By doing
so they believe that they have
purged all sins. I feel the icy water
and look at the slab of ice bobbling
beside the rock I sit upon. I look
B.B. Mathur
The confluence of rivers Mandakini and
Alaknanda at Rudraprayag. Hereafter, the
river is called Ganga...
again at Gaumukh or the cow’s
mouth, the name given to the
glacier cavern. Next moment, I am
in the water, my hands clutching a
rock and my lungs holding my
breath. I have done it! Yes how
many get the opportunity to
worship the mother source of a
holy river at its hideout deep into
the Himalayas. The sun is
benevolent. It lights up eyes and
many lives. The ice sparkles.
Sometimes chunks of ice fall down
from the top of the glacier cave to
meet the water below.
The Himalayan glaciers have long
fascinated the British explorers who
arduously mapped and recorded
their uniqueness. Colonel Gordon
(Roof of the World, 17) writes –
“the glaciers of the Western
Himalayas are twice as extensive as
those of the Alps, and are probably
the largest in the world or at all
events larger than any others out of
the polar regions.”
After a tete a tete with Bhagirathi
glacier and river source one must
return to Bhojbasa or if possible
Chirbasa for a night halt. Walking
early morn on return is pure
satisfaction to the visual and
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
olfactory senses. Start about
6-6.30 a.m. The clouds are still
lazing in the valley. Their effortless
glide up the mountains is inspiring.
The atmosphere is filled with the
fragrance of plants and shrubs,
especially Ganga Tulsi. You
become part of generous nature.
Many prayers come to lips in such
circumstance – “God make me a
mountain stream so that I can
quench the thirst of earth, plants,
and men; God make me a
wildflower, so that I can enliven a
jungle path; God make me a
birdsong so that I fill the woods
with music; God make me a cloud
so that I roam anywhere at free
will; God make me a mountain
summit so that I tower above
everything else; God make me the
wind so that I can give life to the
world; God make me a star in the
sky so that I fill the eyes of your
children with dreams”. Any one of
these could be yours. The prayer of
humility, of freedom, of power, or
dreams; it just depends on how you
feel. I, for one, would like to end
up as a birdsong in a forest!
◆
The author, a civil servant, is a noted travel
writer.
12
 The Kangra Fort
CHEQUERED HISTORY
Dr. A.C. KATOCH

T
he Kangra Fort in Himachal Pradesh, situated at an altitude of
615 meters, has seen the rise and fall of many ruling dynasties
during its chequered past. Its history goes back to the
Mahabharata times when the 234th Raja of Kangra, Raja Sushram
Chand Katoch, an ally of the Kaurvas in the Mahabharata war, is said
to have built it.
The Fort is situated on a precipitous cliff overhanging the Ban Ganga
and Manjhi rivers. The circumference of its walls is about four km. It is
protected by a number of gates named after its victors like Jahangir

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 13

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 14
and Ranjit Singh. A long narrow
passage leads to the top of the
Fort through the Ahani and
Amiri Darwazas (gates)
attributed to Nawab Alif Khan,
the first Governor of Kangra
under the Mughals. Some
150 meters from the outer gate,
the passage turns round at a very
sharp angle and passes through
the Jahangiri Darwaza. The
Amiri and Jahangiri Darwajas
were damaged in the earthquake
of 1905. The next two gates,
namely the Andheri and Darsani
Darwajas were completely
ruined. There is a courtyard and
stairs leading to the top of the
fort and the palace of the Katoch
Rajas and Maharajas which were
also destroyed by that
earthquake.
Along the south side of the
courtyard, there are the shrines
of Lakshmi Narayan, Sitala and
Ambika Devi – the family goddess
of the Katochs. Next to the fort,
there is the beautiful Jain temple
with Adinath in stone image.
According to historians, rule of
the Katoch Dynasty is believed to
be the longest unbroken rule of
any dynasty in the world. There
were 487 Katoch Rajas and
Maharajas who occupied the
gaddi (throne) of Kangra Hill
State, one after another, without
any break – right from antiquity
till the achievement of India’s
independence in 1947.
However, control over the Kangra
fort did pass from one ruler to
another. First it was Mahmud of
Ghazni who wrested the control
Facing page: Entrance to the Kangra Fort
(above) and the beautifully carved temple
in its precints (below).
Top: Steps leading to the Fort.
Jahangir finally succeeded in this
venture. Thereafter, the control
over the fort remained with the
Mughals. Subsequently, the
Katoch rulers tried to regain the
Fort but couldn’t succeed. In the
early 19th century, Raja Sansar
Chand Katoch joined hands with
Maharaja Ranjit Singh and
captured the Fort. It remained
under the Sikh rule till 1839
when Maharaja Ranjit Singh died.
Thereafter, the Fort was annexed
by the British.
But now, the Fort stands a silent
testimony of the turbulent times it
has seen. The Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI) is making
all-out efforts to restore the past
glory of the Fort so that visitors
of Nagarkot (Kangra) in 1009, can feel its majesty and the
also known as the Kot Kangra, vicissitudes it has gone through.
Fort of Bhim or Bhimanagar. It ◆
was so named because Pandavas The author is a writer, researcher and
photographer.
are believed to have visited the
region and one of the five
Pandavas – Bhim – was
considered to be the symbol of
strength. The Ghazni ruler found
so much wealth here in the Fort
and its temple that it was more
than contained in any of the
treasuries of contemporary rulers.
More than 300 years later,
Mohammed Tughlaq plundered
the fort again in 1337 but couldn’t
hold it for long. When he died in
1345, Raja Rup Chand Katoch of
Kangra regained the control of
the fort. When Feroze Tughlaq
tried to conquer the Fort, he was
met with tough resistance by Raja
Rup Chand Katoch. Feroze finally
relented and made Raja Rup
Chand his friend and allowed him
to continue holding the Fort.
Later on, Mughal rulers also tried
to assert control over the Fort and
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 15
 India’s Forays
into Global Space Market
RADHAKRISHNA RAO
The GSLV lift-off.
A
s part of its move to double
its annual revenue to
Rs. 2000-million during
2003-04, the Bangalore based
Antrix Corp, the commercial arm
of the Indian space programme, is
holding talks with the leading
telecom players in South-East Asia.
In particular, Antrix is keen to build
and launch one tonne class satellites
for Malayasia and Thailand. It may
be recalled that Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee had recently
offered to build and launch satellites
for ASEAN countries at a “modest
cost”. As it is, the Astronautic
Technology of Malayasia has signed
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 16
a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Antrix under which
Malayasia will make use of the
Indian launch vehicles, in addition
to provision for training of its
engineers at the Indian space
facilities.
According to Sridhara Murthy,
Executive Director of Antrix Corp,
a large part of the Rs. 1000-million
earned last fiscal came from
servicing satellite resources data
market and from broadcasting and
communication satellite business.
Murthry also revealed that the
Mumbai-based Agrani Satellite
Enterprise promoted by the Indian
media moghul Subash Chandra had
approached Antrix with a proposal
to build and launch India’s first
DTH satellite. However, Murthy
said that the Antrix is yet to take a
decision in the matter.
Meanwhile Agrani, meaning front
runner in Sanskrit, the first Indian
privately owned satellite, is getting
ready for a launch in 2004. Custom
built by the Alcatel Space, Agrani
will provide communications and
broadcasting services across India
and its neighbouring countries, as
well as in UAE.
The tie-up of Antrix Corp with the
American outfit “Space Imaging”
has resulted in the data from India’s
IRS series of earth observation
spacecraft getting marketed around
the world. Thanks to this
partnership, the high quality data
from the IRS series of spacecraft
today account for one-fourth of the

PSLV – with its three spacecrafts – readying for launch.
satellite resources data sold
worldwide. Growing demand
for such data reflects the giant
strides made by India in the
global space market. Today India
boasts of one of the largest
constellations of civilian remote
sensing satellites in the world.
According to Prof. U.R. Rao,
former chief of the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO),
“India’s strength in remote sensing
is internationally recognised”.
In a significant development Anirix
in association with the Space
imaging is busy expanding the
international marketing of IRS data
with IRS coverage extending into
Latin America and Central Europe.
According to sources, IRS data is
received by five ground stations
in USA, two in Russia, one each
in S. Korea, Argentina, Germany,
UAE, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar
and Spain. Plans are also afoot for
setting up IRS data reception
facilities in Zimbabawe, Venezuela,
Taiwan and Dubai.
On the launcher service front,
Antrix is now promoting the
four-stage Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV) featuring alternate
liquid and solid fuel stages, as
a cost efficient booster for
delivering lightweight satellites
into near earth and middle earth
orbits as piggyback payloads.
Antrix recently signed an
agreement with the Nanyang
Technological University (NTU) of
Singapore for launching its earth
observation microsatellite X-sat
onboard a PSLV flight sometime
in 2005-06.
As it is PSLV has carried out two
commercial missions with a high
degree of success. During its May
1999 flight, PSLV launched three
satellites simultaneously, India’s
1050-kg. IRS -P4 ocean watch
satellite, South Korea’s 107-kg.
Kitsat probe and Germany’s Tubsat
payload. This was the first time that
an Indian carrier rocket deployed
three satellites into orbit at one go.
Antrix has also made it clear that it
would market the potentials of the
India’s most advanced high
performance Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
once it becomes operational after
its third flight slated for 2005. While
the first two stages of the booster
are derived from PSLV, its upper
stage cryogenic engine is of Russian
origin. ISRO hopes to replace the
Russian cryogenic stage with a fully
Indian made engine in the “near
future.” The mission objective of
the three-stage GSLV is to help
India acquire independent
capability for launching its INSAT
domestic spacecraft weighing
upto 2.5-tonnes.
However, to enter the global
market for launching commercial
communications satellites, India
would need vehicles more
powerful than the GSLV. To this
end, ISRO is developing GSLV
Mark-III booster capable of
launching 4-tonne class
communications satellites. Antrix is
planning a joint marketing strategy
to promote the sale of GSLV
services to the worldwide
customers in addition to exploring
the possibility of marketing medium
class satellites to developing
countries. Antrix which has
supplied satellite components,
hardware and systems to aerospace
outfits in West Europe and North
America, recently made available
certain critical spacecraft hardware
for the Japanese MITSAT-2 satellite.
India has thus achieved full
capability in building world class
satellites.
◆
The author is a noted writer on scientific
subjects.
17
 Adi Shankaracharya
GREAT PHILOSOPHER-SAINT
A
di Shankaracharya, the
versatile genius – who
epitomised a rare
combination of a philosopher, poet,
debater, commentator, saint and
religious reformer, was one of the
most resplendent stars in the
philosophical and spiritual
firmament of India. He was the
greatest exponent of the philosophy
of “Advaita’ or non-dualism,
according to which man’s individual
soul and Brahman, the Ultimate
Soul, are one and not two separate
entities. In his terse and
unequivocal words, “The one
non-dual Brahman alone exists;
there is no duality at all”. In the
Upanishads the word, “Brahman”
stands for the Supreme Reality,
while the Rig Veda mentions it as
“sacred knowledge of utterance”
and “reality experienced at the
transcendental level”. For
Shankaracharya, it stood for eternity
and purity as the most prominent
facets of the same Supreme Reality.
In the context of the real world,
Brahman is also spoken of as
omnipotent, omniscient and
omnipresent Creator, Preserver
and Destroyer.
Born in 788 A.D. at village Kaladi
in Malabar (Kerala) to Shivaguru, a
proficient religious teacher, and his
devoted wife, Aryamba,
Shankaracharya was popularly
called Shankara. His parents
belonged to a sect of austere,
scholarly and diligent Brahmins and
his father himself started imparting
religious education to Shankara
even when the latter was only an
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
B.M. MALHOTRA
infant. Shankara was a precocious
child blessed with an extraordinary
talent and sharpness of intellect.
He emerged as an unparalleled
prodigy as he picked up the basics
of Sanskrit when he was only one
year old, even before he learnt his
mother tongue, Malayalam, at the
age of two. Endowed with a
phenomenal memory and an
immense power of concentration,
he could repeat ad verbatim
anything, which he heard or read
only once.
He was about five, when his father
passed away. Soon thereafter, he
was admitted to a Gurukul (school
for religious learning) and within a
short period, he mastered the Vedic
and auxiliary lore. After completing
his education when he was only
eight, he embarked upon the
monastic life and constantly
practised spiritual disciplines
involving yoga of action, devotion,
knowledge and control of mind.
Consequently, he was soon
recognised as a leading
philosopher, mystic and a reviver
and reformer of Hinduism.
In the next twenty-four years before
he breathed his Last at Kedarnath in
the Garhwal Himalayas in 820 A.D.
at the age of only thirty-two years,
he had traversed on foot the vast
length and breadth of the pan India
of his time and established the
earliest Hindu monastic order with
several maths or ashrams
(monasteries or shrines), the chief
among them being those at
Rameshwaram in the south, Dwarka
in the west, Puri in the east and
18

Badrinath in the north. He placed
each monastery under a teacher,
also called a Shankaracharya, who
propagated the philosophy of
monism.
This earnest and passionate lover
of God appeared at a critical
juncture in the history of human
thought and culture when religious
conflicts were the order of the day
and divergent trends were
struggling for supremacy. He
succeeded largely in resolving
those conflicting tendencies and
achieved an integrated harmony
signifying a united view and
meaning of life.
Through his brilliant commentaries
on the scriptures, in particular the
Uttara Mimansa, and incisive
debates he repudiated the flawed
logic of his opponents and
established non- dualism as the
ultimate creed. He also refuted the
claims of the popular religion of
that time for being an exclusive
route for attaining the highest good.
He gave new dimensions to
devotional literature by bringing
within its orbit exquisite enquiry
and mysticism. In his learned
commentary on the Bhagvad Gita
he explicitly maintained that the As in the case of several other
Supreme Lord is transcendental to spiritually illumined and God-
material creation and that Lord realised saints over the centuries,
Krishna was the same Supreme certain miracles were also
Personality, who though seemed associated with Adi
as born and possessing a body, Shankaracharya. When at the tender
was in reality unborn, unchanging, age of eight he wanted to launch
the Lord of all created beings, himself on a monastic life, his
and by nature eternal, pure, mother strongly opposed the move.
illumined and free. His writings, But, while one day he was bathing
which include a number of in a river, a crocodile caught hold
philosophical treatises and soul- of one of his legs. Shankara’s
stirring hymns, were regarded as mother, who was a very anxious
“marvels of precision and and worried witness to the
penetration”. According to the late horrifying scene, desperately
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, former wished her son to be saved at any
philosopher President of India, “as cost. At that moment, Shankara
the traditionally accepted beliefs said he would save himself only if
had become inadequate and false his mother agreed to his taking
on account of changed times, to the monastic life. As the mother
Shankaracharya’s insight per force nodded, Shankara
supervened and stirred the depths extricated his leg from the
of spiritual life”. crocodile’s jaw and came out of
Shankaracharya recognised diverse water unscathed. This was not the
solitary marvel in Shankara’s life.
popular divinities as manifestations
The accomplishment by him of the
of one and the same God. In his
prodigious task of many long lives
view, all the holy books of the
during his short lifespan of only
Hindus express the same truth i.e.
thirty-two years was nothing but
the need of Unitism in various
a series of marvels and miracles
ways. He believed that nothing
per se.
exists except God, who is Nirgun
◆
(free from all attributes) and all else The author is a noted freelance writer.
is mere illusion, which man in his
ignorance regards as real and acts
in practical life in the light of this
hypothesis. A true seeker of
salvation must, however, lift the
veil of ignorance and perceive real
unity, and this exalted state can be
achieved only after certain spiritual
exercises which lead to mysticism.
The promotion by him of the
harmony of religions through his
philosophy of non-dualism, was
and is even now his and India’s
unique contribution to the
philosophical thought of the world.
This is also reflected through this
ancient country’s age-old tradition
of religious tolerance and cultural
accommodation.
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 19
 Kashmiri Carpets
BETTER THAN THE BEST
VIDHU GANJOOR & BUZZ BURZA
W
hat the world knows as
“Oriental carpets” are the
most universal and finest
works of art. It is an ancient craft
that arose in areas of Asia as part of
nomadic tribal life. It is noteworthy
that its original forms have survived
through the ages to the present. As
these tribes travelled with their
flocks across the high plateaus of
Central Asia, they developed the
means to decorate and insulate
their black goatskin tents. Multi-
coloured woven cloth was used for
insulated wall hangings, door
covers and various types of bags.
The hard ground was made soft
with rugs and cushions. In short, it
was an early style of interior
decoration. The skills and artistry of
nomadic floor coverings provide
the basis for the tradition of the
oriental carpet. The best oriental
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
carpets retain the basic simplicity,
the natural sense of colour, the
instinctive feeling for design and
the pride in good craftsmanship of
these original nomadic rugs.
In the beginning, the looms that
held the framework of the warp
and weft were simple horizontal
constructions that nomadic people
could easily move. The width of
textiles woven on these looms was
limited but not the length. Raw
materials were limited to the goods
that accompanied them on their
travels or what was found in their
surroundings. Their flocks provided
the yarn and dye came from
vegetable or animal sources that
were readily available. Roots,
flowers, bark, fruit, blood and dried
insects were all used to produce
“vegetable” dyes. Dye masters
20
treated their recipes as sacred
treasures that were handed down
through generations. They were
never written. Before dyeing, wool
was treated with dung because it
made colours more brilliant and
permanent. In its simplest form, this
loom produces a length of cloth. Its
thickness depends on the density of
the threads as well as the tightness
of the weaving. If it is thick
enough, a cloth will be produced
that will suffice to put on the
ground to use as a rug. Patterns
were introduced into fabrics by
weaving different coloured
threads in between the weft
threads that hold the material
together. The smooth, pile-less rug
thus produced is known as killim.
After a rug was completed it was
washed in a cold running stream to
fix the colours.
The last and final step towards the
creation of the carpet came when
the weavers started twisting short
lengths of wool round the warp
threads and in between each
row of weft. Although they are
referred to as “knots”, they are
not knots in the truest sense.
Rather, they are loops of thread that
are held in place by the weft
threads that are continually pulled
tight against each new row of
“knots”. Although their number
can go upto 2,500 per sq. inch in a
50 by 50 format, usually they are
much less.
There are two types of knots: the
Ghiordes (Turkish) full knot has the
yarn twisted about the warp threads
in such a way that the two raised
ends of the pile alternate with
every two threads of the warp; the
Senne (Persian) half knot has the
advantage that it can be tied to
either the right or the left of the
warp and has a piece of pile
dividing each warp thread. These
tufts of wool produced a warm, soft
pile. Every kind of pattern –
stylized rending of flowers, birds
and animals or just geometrical
shapes- was made possible by
choosing tufts of different coloured
wool. The resulting representations
are indeed real art albeit what
in the West is referred to as
“applied art”.
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 21
Although this is a rather simplistic
explanation, it is how Oriental
carpets are made. This
uncomplicated technique has not
changed over the centuries as this
wondrous art form evolved and
spread through the world,
becoming part of humanity’s shared
cultural heritage.
During the European dark ages,
carpets found their way westward
bringing with them their inner
radiance. Renascence paintings
show the rich and powerful in
settings where oriental carpets
abound both on the floor and
draped over tables.
As the relentless shift from the rural
countryside to urban settlements
displaced the nomadic lifestyle, so
too the making of carpets and rugs
was transferred to villages and
towns. With the establishment of
permanent locations, the means of
production became more varied
and sophisticated. Early factory-like
situations arose that could produce
larger carpets. Using graph paper
where each square represented a
knot, patterns were developed to
record various styles and motifs that
gave exact instructions to replicate
favorite carpets. The key to this sort
of production was in the “caller” or
“teller” who would sing out the
various colours using an old chart
as a guide The weavers would sing
back their reply as they used the
proper colour. After a few rows
were finished, they were pounded
down beneath the weft and the pile
would be trimmed before additional
rows of knots would be added.
Two identical carpets could be
woven simultaneously.
Two factors were responsible for
the growth of the market for
carpets: in urban areas, merchants
and the nobility could afford
carpets; Islam swept over vast areas
of Asia creating a large market for
prayer rugs for individual and
mosques – eventually creating a
market for finer and larger carpets.
Carpet-weaving techniques were
brought to Kashmir during the
15th century by Sultan Zain-ul-
Abadin who brought Persian and
Central Asian weavers to Kashmir
to teach the craft to local
inhabitants. During his reign
factories were established to
produce carpets and the new craft
thrived. With long established
traditions of spinning and weaving,
Kashmir readily and successfully
adopted these new skills. Because
carpet weaving in Kashmir is
essentially the same as in Iran,
Kashmiri carpets have been sold as
Iranian for ages. For centuries these
fine carpets travelled the Silk Route
spreading their fame.
Various Kashmiri rulers had
different influences. During the
Mughal rule, the boteh began
emerging as a main design theme
for carpets and shawls. In the West,
since the 19th century, this stylized
rendering of a cone has been
known as “Paisley”, the name of
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 22
the town in Scotland that was the
centre for the production of replicas
of Kashmiri shawls. Maharaja Gulab
Singh contributed roses, Pathans
brought triangles, children and
animals and tribals had their own
unique motifs. To the trained eye,
these various design elements can
pinpoint the origins of a carpet.
The skill of the weavers and the
superiority of Kashmiri wool spun
from local sheep and goats are the
main factors for the fineness of
these carpets. Another reason is the
usage of silk in the main body of
the carpet. It is used in small
interspersed flecks that give an
extra sheen. Kashmir is blessed
with an abundance of natural
colours which are reflected in the
palette used in carpet design. These
colours are soft and soothing, like
the beautiful flowers. The majesty
of the mountains underlines various
natural colours. Kashmiri carpets
reflect all of this and much more.
◆
The authors are noted freelance writers.
 Bamboo
GOOD TIMBER ALTERNATIVE
UMA SWAMY
B
amboo plays a very
significant role in our lives.
From making knives for
cutting the umbilical cord, it is used
in almost every sphere of human
activity. It even finds a mention in
the ancient scriptures. Known as
venu in Sanskrit, it is said that
Gautam Buddha chose to live in a
bamboo grove after his
enlightenment.
Probably no other grass, tree or
plant has been so closely linked
with man’s existence in the way
bamboo has. Though bamboo has
over 1500 documented traditional
uses, they consist largely of
household items and handicrafts
leading to its image as the poor
man’s timber. The reason,
obviously, was the dominance of
timber for decades. It was an
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
indispensable resource that had
no match in terms of utility and
availability. While it commanded
the center-stage in every respect,
other forest products were
relegated to trade between local
communities. However, as the
large-scale timber harvesting
wreaked havoc on eco-systems,
search began for an alternative
that could suitably meet social,
cultural, economic and ecological
needs of man.
This search inevitably led to
bamboo. Many research projects
had already successfully testified to
bamboo’s capability as an industrial
and technology friendly resource.
It was also ideal for creating
income and employment-based
opportunities. Thus bamboo has
catapulted into a major league
23
today. New technological
applications of bamboo promise to
change the dynamics of industrial
and commercial enterprise in India,
as it has one of the largest reserves
of bamboo in the world. The
country’s north-eastern region
comprising the states of Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland,
Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya and
Tripura has over half of bamboo
species reported from India.
Bamboo has the potential to
provide livelihood, ecological
and food security. Bamboo can
also contribute to the conservation
of biodiversity and carbon
sequestration. It is also useful in
rehabilitating degraded land,
conserving top-soil and in
watershed management.
In India, a silent revolution is
taking shape in the bamboo sector.
Many institutions are working on
research and extension in the field
of bamboo-based applications.
Bamboo-based industries are
gender friendly and create much
needed work opportunities for
women and semi-skilled persons
in the rural communities. In
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
Bangalore, a project is underway
for the manufacture of laminated
mat boards of bamboo that can
be used for making doors, roofs,
tables etc.
For integrating the efforts of
numerous institutions, and working
out a structured resulted-oriented
work schedule, the Indian
government has initiated the
National Technology Mission for
Bamboo Development. The
objective of the Mission is to
effectively use bamboo, in a
planned and integrated manner.
Many minds came together to sort
out the issues confronting
sustainable and effective bamboo
development in the country. The
need to synthesize short-term viable
projects with long-term vision and
protecting the interests of all
stakeholders was not an easy task.
Today, a well-charted blueprint of
the policy on bamboo management
has been evolved. Some of the
member organizations playing an
important role in the mission
include the Department of Science
and Technology, Forest Research
Institute, Dehradun, Institute of
24
Wood Science and Technology and
the Ministry of Environment.
To begin with, the government has
identified the technology to be used
for the production of quality
bamboo. The Department of
Biotechnology has standardized the
nursery and cultivation techniques.
About 100 NGOs and other
organizations capable of producing
and distributing 50 lakh quality
seedlings each every year are being
short-listed.
Bamboo cultivation promises a
significant boost to rural
employment. This is giving a new
impetus to the bamboo handicraft
industry. Not only that, high-tech
bamboo shuttles dashing across
modern high speed looms produce
some of the finest cloth. Bamboo
charcoal produces the hottest of
fires required to melt gold.
Research shows that a sliver of
bamboo increases the sound fidelity
of audio systems. An emergency
village can be set up in hours using
modular bamboo houses.
In Karnataka’s Dharwad district, a
bamboo forest towers 70 feet into
the sky, on a soil whose depth is
only one metre over the bedrock of
the Deccan plateau!
The wonders of bamboo never fail
to amaze. It is the fastest growing
grass on earth, growing upto an
average of 3 to 16 inches a day. It
grows three times faster than
eucalyptus and can be harvested
four times as often. It yields six
times more cellulose than the fast
growing pine tree. In a life span of
35 years, a bamboo plant can
produce upto 15 km of usable pole.
The emerging culms or shoots of
certain species are edible too.
Bamboo also restores fertility in
soil. Its ability to grow in a wide
variety of soils, from marginal to
semi-arid, makes it perfect for
rehabilitation. It is a great generator
of biomass as well. Therefore it is
appropriately called the most
suitable alternative to timber – the
source that is fast depleting.
◆
The author is an environment and social
activist.
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 25

The Stalking Presence
in Banks House...
KUSUM PANT JOSHI
T
he envelope that arrived in
the post for Lorna on that
cold January morning in
1920 came like a bolt from the
blue. The address on it was in her
mother Lady Hewett’s familiar
handwriting. It was the redirected
letter enclosed within, which
startled Lorna and reopened old
memories.
From the words “Government
House, Lucknow” printed on the
top of the page, it was evident
that the letter had travelled all the
way from India. When Lorna
turned her gaze to the foot of the
page, she was surprised to find
the name ‘Harcourt Butler’ staring
at her. Sir Harcourt was a
conspicuous public figure of
whom Lorna had heard a lot but
never met. After serving British
imperial interests in India with
Banks House in early 20th century Lucknow.
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
True Story
distinction, he had risen to
become Lieutenant Governor of
the United Provinces of Agra and
Oudh (UPAO) in 1917. Lorna
knew that Sir Harcourt was
persistently discussed in well-
informed Whitehall circles and
was a front runner for perhaps the
most coveted post in the Empire,
that of Vicerory of India!
But having moved in exalted
circles both in India and England
since her childhood, what affected
Lorna more was not the position
and importance of the sender of
the letter, but the place from
which it had come. The very
words “Government House,
Lucknow” transported her to the
year 1906. What a charmed life
she had led in those days! She was
a vivacious, carefree teenager and
lived with her parents in what was
26

A sketch of Major Hodson.
then the prime of the British Raj.
She was, moreover, no ordinary
English girl who happened to be
in India. Her father, Lord John
Prescott Hewett, had moved that
year to Lucknow to take up the
same post to which Sir Harcourt
had succeeded in 1917.
She could clearly visualise the
rambling building that was their
official residence. It was an Indo-
European style building called
Kothi Hayat Baksh or Life-giving
Mansion. It had been designed
about a decade after the French
Revolution of 1789 by the French
adventurer, Claude Martin, for
Nawab Saadat Ali Khan (1798-
1814) of Oudh. By then, Lucknow,
the capital of the Kingdom of
Oudh, had become a centre of
Indo-Persian culture and its rulers,
the Nawabs, were renowned for
their lavish (nawabi) lifestyle,
patronage of the arts and the love
of luxury. After the Nawabs were
removed from power and Oudh
was annexed by the British East
India Company (EIC) in 1856,
Kothi Hayat Baksh was converted
into the official residence of the
Chief Commissioner of Oudh. It
was renamed Banks House to
commemorate one of its English
occupants, Major Banks, who was
killed during the Mutiny (India’s
First war of Independence) of
1857. It was from the very same
house that Sir Harcourt had sent
the letter that Lorna was then
holding in her hand.
Suppressing the wave of nostalgia
about to sweep over her, Lorna
returned her attention to the letter.
Mysterious happenings at Bank’s
House had prompted Sir Harcourt
to write the letter. Explaining them
he had written:
“There is a rumour that his
(Hodson’s) ghost haunts the
house, and I am now collecting
evidence in regard to it. (My
guest) Mrs Gamble had felt some
presence in the room occupied by
herself and Captain Gamble on
more than one occasion
previously. It had lifted the top of
a hat box several times when it
was in her bedroom, and also
when she had it removed into her
dressing room, it had lifted it
there. She heard it again on the
night of the 11-12 November 1919.
Next day, Mrs Rathbone, Mrs
Gamble’s sister, shared the room
with her. On the following night
they both heard the lid of a box
being lifted and a low whistling in
the next room early in the
morning at about 3 am.
As Sir Harcourt was eager to hear
from Lorna about her Bank’s
House days, it wasn’t long before
she sent him a detailed reply:
“ My dear Sir Harcourt,
Mother sent me your letter about
the ghost at Government House,
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
Lucknow. As you say you do not
scoff at these things, I will tell you
my experience. I have told very few
people, as at the time I was rather
chaffed and no one, or rather only
one person believed my story. Had
I known then, as much as I know
now about psychic matters, I might
have been able to clear the thing
up a little. These are the facts:
As you know the big bedroom at
the back is part of the original old
house, which was the headquarters
of the Mutineers. When we came to
the United Provinces, the end of
1906, that room was really a large
passage or hall between the two
smaller rooms either side. Father
had it made into a bedroom,
dressing and bathroom for me.
I think I am right in saying this.
I occupied that room all the time
we were in India, but from the
very first night that I slept there,
I felt frightened. I was never happy
there. I never passed a single night
in that room, without waking up
once if not twice, quite rigid with
fright. I always took ages to get off
to sleep, and would lie and shake
under my mosquito net, for no
reason at all. As a rule I never
had a net if I could help it, but
in that room I always had it
down, as in some vague way, I felt
it was a protection, against what?
I couldn’t tell you.
I never could make out what
frightened me, as I never (except
once) saw anything or heard
anything definite. I used to wake
up at night, and hear (or imagine
I heard), someone breathing near
me; at other times, I could have
sworn someone was walking
round and round my bed, but
I put it all down to imagination;
nerves in those day I had none
and never in all my 18 years of
27
 “Hodson’s Horse” members.
life had I been frightened or
nervous, until I slept in that room.
I am telling you all these
apparently irrelevant details, to
show you that I was not highly
strung, nervous or imaginative,
but that there was something in
that room that frightened me,
without any shadow of doubt.
My family knew that I was nervous
in that room, and repeatedly
urged me to change it, but I
wouldn’t – partly because I liked
the room better than any other in
the house in the daytime, and
I was comfortable and had lots of
room, and partly because I did not
wish to give in, and prove myself a
coward. The only occasion on
which I saw anything was as
follows.
I had been ill in bed with
laryngitis for several days, and on
the night of 11 March 1907, I was
reading in bed. I looked at the
door... and on the left of the
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
fireplace, at right angles to the
bed, was a large Chesterfield sofa.
Also on the left of my bed was a
small table with an electric
reading lamp on it. This particular
night, as I said, I was reading in
bed and absolutely wide awake,
when I suddenly heard rather
heavy footsteps coming through my
dressing room into my room.
I looked up and to my intense
astonishment, I saw a man, in
what I took to be fancy dress. For
a moment, I was so surprised
I could not speak, but (and this is
very odd) I was not in the least
frightened.
The man came right into my
room, walked over to the sofa,
threw himself down, with his right
arm over the end of the sofa and
his feet out in front of him. He was
dressed in a tight fitting rather
bright blue frock coat with brass
buttons, long white trousers
strapped over his boots, and a high
28
stock; the curious part was that
I could only see the lower part of
his face, just enough to see he had
whiskers, but no more. My first
feeling was of rage, at anybody
daring to come into my room. It
did not at the time seem odd that
this man should be dressed as if
for a fancy ball, it all seemed quite
natural, but I was very angry and
said to him: “Who are you, and
how dare you come into my
room.” He gave a sort of start and
got up and said: “I am very sorry.
I did not mean to frighten you”,
and walked out through the
dressing room again.
The whole thing lasted perhaps
two minutes. When he had gone,
I blinked my eyes and wondered if
I was mad, and decided that I had
imagined the whole thing and
finally went to sleep. I told my
mother in the morning what I had
seen, and she thought I had been
feverish and dreamt it all and did
not pay much attention to me.
I was still kept in bed, and the next
night the same thing happened
again, except on this occasion
I did not speak to him or he to me
and he just walked round the
room and out again. I forgot to
say that the first night I looked at
my clock and it was 10 past 12.
On the second night I looked
again and it was exactly the same
hour, on the third night March 13,
he came in again and this time he
brought something in and threw it
on the floor saying: “Here it is,
I have brought it back” and he
then went out, the time was 12.10.
I looked to see what he had
dropped, but of course there was
nothing.
A day or so after I recovered,
I came downstairs and told the
family and staff my story. But no
one took it seriously except Mr
Willie Holmes who was staying
with us. He was very interested,
and made me tell him all I could
remember. He said he was certain
that I had seen the ghost of Hodson
of Hodson’s Horse. I being very
ignorant enquired who Hodson of
Hodson’s Horse was? Willie told me
that Hodson had died in this very
house. He then proceeded to look
up details and found that Hodson
had been shot on March 11 (the
first night I saw him was March
11) and he had died in the house
on 12th. He also said that he
thought what Hodson had brought
back was some of the stuff he had
looted. I still saw no reason why
Hodson should appear to me as
I had no interest in or connection
with the Hodson family, and at the
time I had not the faintest notion
that I was going to marry (Jack) a
man from Hodson Horse.
Shortly after this, I went to
Cawnpore for a race week and the
9th Hodson’s Horse gave a ball to
celebrate their 50 years. I went
into the ballroom with Jim Russell,
and the first thing I saw was a
picture of my ghost. I asked him
who it was and he said it was
Hodson. I recognised it as being as
far as I could see the man I had
seen at Lucknow, though as I have
told you, I never saw his face
thoroughly, the upper part was
always in shadow.
I am extremely interested to hear
that someone else has felt the
presence of a personality in that
room and it would be wonderful if
anything could be cleared up.
I suggest if feasible that Mrs
Gamble having the psychic gift,
should try and hold a séance in
that room with three or four others,
preferably on the dates I have
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 29
given. If anyone is earthbound
and unhappy, it may be just the
chance to help them to go on and
develop. I have put it down as
accurately as I can remember it,
but it all happened 13 years ago,
and at the time I didn’t really
believe very much that I had seen
a ghost. I thought it was a dream
and an odd coincidence but
I think differently now... Do let me
know if anything comes off your
investigations.
Yours
Lorna”
That year in March, a special vigil
was kept for the reappearance of
the “Lucknow Ghost” on all the
dates mentioned by Lorna. The
wait proved futile. A short note in
the Butler Manuscripts,
presumably scribbled by Sir
Harcourt says: “There was no
sign of a ghost on the night of the
11, 12 and 13 March 1920.”
It is now more than 80 years since
Lorna saw what was perhaps
Hodson’s ghost. It will soon be
150 years since Captain Hodson
was hit by a musket ball directly
on his chest in the grounds of
Lucknow’s Begum Kothi and died
the next day in Banks House.
The spot where his comrades
hurriedly buried him on the
roadside, today lies in the grounds
of La Martiniere School. The
words inscribed on his tombstone
read:
“Here lieth all that could of
William Stephen
Raikes Hodson, Captain and
Brevet - Major,
1st E.B. Fusiliers, and
Commandant of Hodson’s
Horse, Born March 19th, 1821, fell
in the final assault at Lucknow,
March 11th 1858.”
La Martiniere in Lucknow.
Like all such inscriptions, it leaves whisper: “Lord! Take my soul!”
many things unsaid. Most seems to add strength to this
importantly, it does not say that assumption.
despite his many achievements,
If so, then what Lorna saw on
Hodson was a relentless Empire
those three nights in March 1907
builder who tended to take the
at Lucknow was not a dream, but
most extreme steps to achieve
Captain Hodson’s ghost! And, who
his ends. It also does not mention
knows, the “Lucknow Ghost” may
that the charges levelled against
still be haunting Bank’s House
him during his lifetime included
despite its reincarnation as Raj
looting, vindictiveness and
Bhawan after the sunset of the
ruthless killings. His most
British Raj in India!
notorious act, which is said to
have left an “indelible blot on The Author, based in London,
his character”, was his killing of says:
the two young sons and a
Though it might read like a story,
grandson of the last Mughal
the above is entirely based on
Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar
unpublished records in the India
in 1857 near Delhi’s Kabuli
Office Library and Records,
Darwaza (also known as Khooni
London, and some well-researched
Darwaza). There was, therefore,
publications on the British Raj in
much that could be weighing
India.
upon his soul when he met his ◆
end. Indeed, Hodson’s dying
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 30
 Books

Deen Dayal
THE ‘RAJA’ OF PHOTOGRAPHY
BHARAT BHUSHAN

I
n his Foreword to Narendra Luther’s book on “Raja Deen Dayal –
Prince of Photographers”, British Crown Prince Charles says it all:
“Deen Dayal was at the summit of his craft at a time when the
practice of photography outside the studio was still very much in its
infancy. Many associate the beginnings of photography with
Europeans and Americans. But throughout this period, photography
flourished in what was then British India – from Delhi to Madras, in
Bombay and Calcutta, in what even at that time was a genuinely
indigenous movement... Foremost in this was Deen Dayal. A pioneer
and practioner, Deen Dayal exhibited internationally, as well as in
India, and won awards.
“A mark of greatness in an artist is that he or she manages to capture
the spirit and essence of an age. This Deen Dayal achieved to a
remarkable degree...” High praise. For a man who was almost self-
taught in the art and handled crude, primitive equipment but went on
to become a legend in the field – for all times to come! He proved to
the hilt that it is the man behind the machine who is important – and
not the machine itself (camera, in this case).

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 31

Taj Mahal captured in its pristine glory
(above) and magnificence of the
Deeg Palace in Rajasthan clearly visible
in this Deen Dayal photo (facing page).
Deen Dayal was born in a well-to-
do Jain family of jewellers in
Sardana, near Meerut, in the state
of Uttar Pradesh. After finishing
school, he joined the diploma
course in Engineering at the
Thomson Civil Engineering
College, Roorkee. Photography
had just been introduced as part
}of the curriculum and Deen Dayal
learnt his first lessons in
photography here. In 1874, he is
said to have been a witness to an
English photographer taking
pictures of the Maharaja of the
state. Deen Dayal requested him
to let him handle the camera. The
result was astounding! The
Englishman was so impressed
with his work that he gifted the
camera and its equipment to
Deen Dayal with the words:
“Keep these. You are a better
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
photographer than I am”.
Thereafter, there was no looking
back for this gifted artist.
He set up a studio at Indore and
covered the visit to India of the
Prince of Wales in 1875. Later in
1885, Deen Dayal went to
Hyderabad with a letter of
introduction from the Viceroy,
Lord Dufferin, to the Sixth Nizam
of Hyderabad, Mir Mehboob Ali
Khan. The Nizam immediately
appointed him as the state
photographer.
Subsequently, the Nizam was so
impressed with his work that
in 1895 he conferred the title of
“Raja Musavir Jung Bahadur”
on him. Thus was born “Raja Deen
Dayal” – undoubtedly the king
among his peers.
32
Deen Dayal had by now decided
to settle down in Secunderabad –
the twin city of Hydeabad. He set
up an establishment under the
name “Raja Deen Dayal & Sons”.
The size and composition of the
establishment was impressive
even by European standards. It
employed about 50 persons –
including two Germans and one
Britisher.
Displaying his business acumen,
Deen Dayal also set up a deluxe
saloon in Bombay (Mumbai).
A notice in the reception room
proclaimed that Deen Dayal had
“tried, regardless of expense, to
provide this large room with
everything that oriental luxury and
artistic taste can suggest”. Even
The Times of India of November
26, 1896, acknowledged it to be
“the most splendidly equipped
photographic saloon in the East”.
Deen Dayal was thus not only a
great photographer but also a man
of taste.
The training that Deen Dayal had
in draughtsmanship during his
engineering course helped him
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
compose a perfect picture. Besides,
he had a rare understanding of the
play of light. His famous “hints to
the sitters”, given to every
customer, can serve as a guide for
every photographer even today.
While tracing the career graph
of Deen Dayal, Narendra Luther
has also provided in the book
a detailed account of the evolution
of photography in India. Some rare
pictures of that era have been
reproduced for the benefit of the
reader.
Raja Deen Dayal: Prince of Photographers
by Narendra Luther; published by
Creative Point, Hyderabad.
Price: Rs 2000/US$ 50.
◆
33
 JEWELS OF INDIAN SKY
Magpie Robin
Text & Photographs: BHAGAT SINGH

R
obin’s fluting tunes are among the most gladsome sounds of
nature. Whenever the sun shines warmly over the earth, the
males tune their pipe, and enliven the neighbourhood with
their melodies. With the advent of the wonderous Spring, the
blossoms begin to peep forth in every part of the budding woods,
and the nature, in all its beauty, promises happiness and abundance
to all. Then, it is the Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis), perched on
its favourite fence-stake or the tree-top, lustily gives vent to the
warmth of its passion, chiefly in early mornings and late afternoons.
These are so lovely that they never fail to fill the heart of the listener
with pleasing sensations. Everyone knows the Magpie Robin and
its song.

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 34

During the love-season, the song
is emitted with increased
emphasis. The male birds
zealously guard their breeding
territories, and their songs are
meant to establish their territorial
rights. In Sanskrit this bird is
called “Srivad Pakshi” – ‘a bird
with auspicious voice’. It remains
silent during the non-breeding
season.
The Magpie Robin is of the size
of a Buibul: 20 cm. It is a black-
and-white bird, with cocked tail.
The female is of duller hues, with
greyish-blue and brown throat
and breast, as against the dark
blue-black of the male. This
species is widely distributed over
the Indian Union, except the arid
parts of West Rajasthan. It
inhabits light deciduous forests,
scrub jungles, orchards and
groves, and likes the vicinity of
human habitations. It, however,
avoids dense forests as well as
open plains. Its food chiefly
consists of insects picked off the
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004
ground, and flower nectar as of
Salmalia and Erythrina.
The Magpie Robin normally raises
two broods during the breeding
season, which extends from
March to August. The nest is built
in tree holes or in wall crevices.
It is made of roots, grasses, plant
fibers and feathers. The female
builds the nest and broods over
the eggs, while the male warns
away the predators. Both the
sexes feed nestling.
◆
The author is an eminent
writer/photographer on wildlife.
35
Kriti Arora

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 36

 ZOHRA
& UZRA
FAMOUS THEATRE SISTERS
RASHME SEHGAL

T
wo famous sisters, Zohra
Sehgal and Uzra Bhatt, living
in New Delhi and Lahore
respectively and pursuing active
careers in theatre and films,
recently came together to stage
a hugely popular production called
Ek Thi Nani.
Staged in Delhi’s LTG Theatre, the
play received an overwhelming
response. Apart from the fact that
they are both nanis (maternal
grandmothers) in real life, what
delighted 93-year old Zohra and her
86-year old younger sister, Uzra,
was the fact that the play had been
written on their lives by a Pakistani
playwright Shahid Nadeem. The
play was first staged by Ajoka
Theatres at Lahore in 1993. Since
then it has had several revivals – all
equally popular.
“The play deals with all that we
have gone through,” Uzra says
excitedly. Uzra had gone to London
to meet Zohra when Shahid
Nadeem dropped in to meet them.
It was during that visit that Nadeem
was struck with the idea of doing
a play featuring both the sisters.
Uzra admits her life has not been
as adventurous as Zohra’s who has
remained a bundle of fun and
rebellion all her life. Zohra loved to
shock people. She shocked the
daylights out of her artistocratic
Muslim parents when she
announced, at the age of eighteen,
that she was going to UK to become

Zohra (left) with sister Uzra (far left).

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 37

an actress. Fortunately for her,
her uncle supported her decision
and agreed to drive her by road
from Dehra Dun to Lahore, Multan,
Quetta, Baluchistan, Persia,
Damascus and then on to
Alexandria.
Zohra, who lives with her daughter,
the Odissi dancer Kiran Segal,
recalls: “In Alexandria, I changed
my mind and decided to study
dance instead. The school I selected
was the May Wignam Dance School
in Dresden. When I joined, imagine
the culture shock I suffered. The
young dancers there wore skimpy
little dresses while I was used to
stepping out only in a burkha.’
It was in Germany that she met
Uday Shankar for the first time.
After completing her training, she
joined Shankar’s dance school,
called “All India Culture Centre”,
which he had started in Almora in
the early forties. “My students in the
school included Guru Dutt and
Narendra Sharma. Later on I went
on to do the dance direction for two
of Guru Dutt’s films, Baazi and
CID,” Zohra recalls.
Uzra joined Zohra at Almora
and went on to become an
accomplished dancer. After some
time, she decided to go and live
with her eldest brother in Kolkata
where she met Hamid Butt, a
Kashmiri Muslim, who was taken
in by her dancing. They fell in love,
married and subsequently moved
to Pune where Butt joined a film
company.
Zohra meanwhile chose to marry
her student Kameshwar Segal, eight
years her junior. The couple moved
to Lahore to set up their own
school. Partition forced them to
migrate to Mumbai where Uzra had
also set up house. Both sisters
played lead roles in several
productions staged by the legendary
Prithviraj Kapoor. Both sisters admit
their indebtedness to Prithviraj
Kapoor who everyone fondly called
Pappaji. “Can you believe it, he was
a Rajya Sabha MP with a first class
railway pass but he always travelled
with us in third class. He lived like
one of us,” says Uzra.
Life however has a way of taking
strange twists. The even tenor of
Uzra’s life changed after Hamid
who was directing, writing film
scripts and lending his voice to
documentaries, suffered a severe
heart attack. His family insisted they
move to Pakistan and in 1960, they
migrated there. From a
theatreperson, Uzra became a
businesswoman, running petrol
pumps and other family concerns.
Some years after his death, she gave
this up and moved from Rawalpindi
to Lahore to make her home with
her younger sister.
Zohra’s life also changed when her
husband committed suicide. She
moved to Delhi where she became
director of the newly-founded Natya
Academy. An inner restlessnes took
her to London where she did all
kinds of odd jobs before getting a
break in 1976 when she was asked
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 38
Kriti Arora
to anchor 26 episodes of Padosi
being made by BBC. There was
no looking back after that and she
went on to give an inimitable
performance as Lady Lily Chatterjee
in Jewel in the Crown. Other popular
serials included Tandoori Nights and
Bhaji on the Beach. In 1987, Zohra
decided to end her self-inflicted
exile and return to India . The
move, like Uzra’s decision to move
to Lahore, turned out to be a wise
step. Zohra loves living in Delhi and
divides her time between giving
poetry recitals and acting in movies.
Uzra loves Lahore. “The city has
culture. For the last 20 years,
I am back to doing what I love
most- acting in theatre,” she says.
Zohra, on he other hand, is doing
one grand mother role after another
in both Hollywood and Bollywood
movies.
◆
The author is a senior journalist.
 Khajuraho
WHERE LIFE, LOVE & THE BEYOND MEET
Text: DINKAR SHUKLA
Photographs: JOGINDER CHAWLA

T
he world heritage site of Khajuraho in central India, famed for
its temples bearing aesthetic and bewitchingly erotic sculptures,
is emerging as the most sought-after tourist destination. This is
thanks to the “new look” Khajuraho which today has many new
attractions added to it after the millennium celebrations organised by
the Government of India to commemorate the 1,000-year existence of
the exquisitely sculpted temples. These attractions include the

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 39

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 40
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 41
 Museum of Tribal and Folk Art
and the daily sound and light
show, Sen-et-Lumiere. The show
throws light on the history of the
temples and their builders, the
great Chandela Rajputs who had
ruled central India in the
medieval era.
Rulers of the Chandela dynasty
had built 85 temples of different
sects at the site. Most of these
were constructed between 950
and 1050 AD. This was a century
when the Chandela dynasty had
reached the zenith of its power.
It was also a period of
comparative peace, stability and
harmony. While a majority of the
85 temples withered with time,
22 remain as an embodiment of
Indian architectural and sculptural
art at its most evolved state.
These temples which survived
ravages of time and element,
attracted world attention because
of their elegance, graceful
contours and rich sculptural
treatment. Perfect in execution
and sublime in expression, the
breathtaking sculptures capture
life in every form and mood,
including in their erotic best.
While the sanctum sanctorum of
the temples have images of
various gods and goddesses of
the concerned sects and faiths,
the walls of the structures are
replete, both inside and outside,
with elegantly carved and
sculpted images, statues and
friezes. These depict deities and
other celestial figures, winged
divinities, nymphs, king’s court
and royal processions. Also seen
are courtesans and other dancing
figures, musicians playing with
their instruments, warriors and
battle scenes, game hunting, wild

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 42

and domesticated animals, chiefly
lions and elephants, crocodiles
and allegators et el.
But it is the erotic group of
friezes sculpted on temple walls
which form the most beautiful
and captivating works of art at
Khajuraho. Amorous couples in
passionate embrace, their bodies
entwined in lusty contours are
seen at many place. The female
figures form an elegant work of
art. Marvellously balanced, the
silhouettes are tall and slender,
showing anatomical forms which
are full and supple. Richly
ornamented, the female figures Khajuraho temples shown in various moods
and facets in this article.
have mostly elongated eyes
arched by thin eyebrows.
It is aptly observed that the erotic
scenes on Khajuraho temples
appear as if Vatsyayan’s
Kamsutra, a treatise on sexual
behaviour, has been transformed
into stone!
It must, however, be pointed out
that erotic images form but a
small part of Khajuraho’s
sculptural treasure. Besides, not
all the temples bear erotic
sculptures. It is not clear as to
what had prompted the
INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 43
 Chandelas to adorn Hindu temple
walls with erotic figures, though
various explanations have been
offered. But the most common
belief based on an understanding
of the Hindu philosophy of life
is that sensual fulfilment, rather
than the denial of it, leads to the
ultimate liberation of the soul.
The Indian civilisation is both
spiritual and sensual, striking a
balance between the two. It may
be noted here that so far as
sacred images of gods and
goddesses are concerned, no
obscenity is attached to them
by the ancient sculptors of
Khajuraho.
An enchanting and entertaining
Indian classical and folk dance
festival has become an annual
event of Khajuraho for the past
25 years.
Declared as “World Heritage
Monuments” by UNESCO, the
Khajuraho temples, as celebration
of life, belong not just to India
but to all humanity. How aptly
has it been observed that
“enchanted by the beauty of
Khajuraho sculptures, even the
god becomes sentimental”!
◆
The author is a senior journalist.

INDIA PERSPECTIVES JANUARY 2004 44

ISSN 0970 5074
India Perspectives
JANUARY 2004
From the Editor…

During his recent visit to the ASEAN countries,

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had offered
India’s assistance in helping these countries build
and launch their own satellites at a ‘modest cost’, thus
underlining that India has come a long way in developing
space technology indigenously. Indeed, India not only can
make its own satellites for diverse developmental needs but is
also in a position to help other countries develop their own
technological base. The accord with Malaysia to provide
training to its engineers at the Indian space facilities, as
also allowing it to use Indian launch vehicles for its satellites,
amply confirms that. In fact India’s technology network
has become so broad-based that now even the private sector
has joined India’s Space Research Organisation, ISRO, in
launching satellites. “Agrani” - the first privately-owned
satellite to be launched this year, will provide
communication and broadcasting services not only across
India and its neighbouring countries but also in the UAE
as well. This indeed is a giant leap forward.
Conscious of the need to keep its technology state-of-the-art
for entering the global market of launching commercial
communications satellites, ISRO is upgrading its GSLV
(Geo-Stationary Launch Vehicles) capability. This
would enable it to successfully launch four-tonne class
communication satellites. ISRO’s commercial arm, Antrix
Corp, has already supplied satellite hardware and systems to
countries in Western Europe and North America, besides
Japan. This clearly demonstrates the maturity India’s satellite
technology has acquired.
Khajuraho temples in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh
have fascinated man for more than a millennium. They have
now emerged as the most sought-after tourist destination – not
only for their erotic sculpture but also for the aesthetic appeal
they hold for the visitor. They are an embodiment of Indian
architectural and sculptural art at its most evolved state…This
issue carries a befitting feature on these temples.
 India Perspectives
JANUARY 2004 VOL 17 NO. 1

Editor
Bharat Bhushan
Assistant Editor
B. Bhushan

India Perspectives
wishes its readers
a Happy & Prosperous
New Year

GAUMUKH: TREK TO MOTHER SOURCE Sandeep Silas 2

THE KANGRA FORT: CHEQUERED HISTORY Dr A.C. Katoch 13
INDIA’S FORAYS INTO GLOBAL SPACE MARKET Radhakrishna Rao 16
ADI SHANKARACHARYA: GREAT PHILOSOPHER-SAINT B.M. Malhotra 18
KASHMIRI CARPETS: BETTER THAN THE BEST Vidhu Ganjoor & Buzz Burza 20
BAMBOO: GOOD TIMBER ALTERNATIVE Uma Swamy 23
TRUE STORY: THE STALKING PRESENCE IN BANKS HOUSE... Kusum Pant Joshi 26
BOOKS: DEEN DAYAL – THE ‘RAJA’ OF PHOTOGRAPHY Bharat Bhushan 31
JEWELS OF INDIAN SKY: MAGPIE ROBIN Bhagat Singh 34
ZOHRA & UZRA: FAMOUS THEATRE SISTERS Rashme Sehgal 36
KHAJURAHO: WHERE LIFE, LOVE & THE BEYOND MEET Dinkar Shukla 39

India Perspectives is published every month in English,
French, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian,
Bahasa Indonesia and German. 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.
For obtaining a copy of India Perspectives, please
contact the Indian Embassy in your country.
Editorial contributions and letters should be addressed to
the Editor, India Perspectives, 149 ‘A’ Wing,
Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001.
Telephones: 23389471, 23388873, Fax: 23782391
email: editor_ip2002@yahoo.co.in
Website: http://www.meadev.nic.in
This edition is published for the Ministry of External
Affairs, New Delhi, by Navtej Sarna, Joint Secretary,
External Publicity Division, and printed at
Ajanta Offset and Packagings Ltd., Delhi-110052.
This edition is designed by Image & Imprint for the
Ministry of External Affairs.
Front cover: Sculpture of a lady at the Khajuraho
temple complex. Transparency: Joginder Chawla.
Back cover: “Char Minar” of Hyderabad, as photographed
by Raja Deen Dayal in the late 19th century.