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Reflecting back at an architectural study tour during the third year, Vikram Pawar reminisces the charm and splendour of monuments displaying a different style of Islamic architecture.

In the small library of our college, we were peering and pondering over books on Islamic Architecture. For two weeks, we tried to locate a site for Islamic Architecture studies in India unexplored by our seniors. Our predecessors had already covered the entire north and central India, for their Islamic study, including Mandu, Taj and Fatehpur Sikri. We were 'apparently' left with little choice…

After combing the entire stock of books we had in our library, we came across a couple of pages put together in Bannister & Fletcher and the Islamic architecture of India, about Gour and Pandua. The entire scenario did not seem very inviting, with the dates of our tour being placed at the peak of the monsoon and our destination, close to the 'monsoon-prone' Calcutta. After weighing the pros and cons, we finally did decide to go to Gour and Pandua, least expecting that this trip would be an eye-opener of a lifetime.

tHaving finished off with the formalities of visiting the monuments of Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, et al., we started towards our targeted mission to Gour and Pandua. Come Calcutta and we were to wade through knee-deep water wherever we went, such was the fury of the monsoon. What a damper to our already not so hopeful spirits! But, hats off to our 'girls' (classmates) who kept our spirits from sagging with their zeal (and pushing) to reach Malda - "Now that we have come all the way to Calcutta, we might as well go to Malda."

 

Hah, At last in Malda…
Malda is a slow township in the Malda district of West Bengal, which is not only the railway junction but also the main bus stop for both Gaur to the south and Pandua to the north. Having reached Malda in the morning, it wasn't very difficult to find a hole for ourselves, in the Malda Lodge. Inspite of the dirt, the lunch was very decent. I had heard that Bengalis really are a tasteful lot, and there was live proof here.

For the next three days while shuttling between libraries and the ruins, we were to unravel the marvels of a wide heritage of Islamic Architecture of West Bengal. What we discovered was a whole new style of Islamic architecture - characteristic only of that region and unconventional in terms of the predominant Mughal architecture.

Gour and Pandua both gained prominence under the Islamic rule from 1202-1595 AD when due to the constant changes in the flow of the Ganges, either Gour or Pandua was chosen as the Mughal capital. The regular shifting of capitals led to a profuse construction of structures - forts, minars, gateways, dargas and masjids, essential in both these strategically important places.

That afternoon, the first place we visited was the replastered and repainted Chotta dargah. Because of the initial enthusiasm we wasted a whole film roll on this complex, without realising that the images would be of little consequence in the assignment. This still inhabited and hardly attractive place seemed to whisper - "You might as well go to Calcutta and enjoy your stay there, rather than see some supposedly old structures, masked in third rate chuna (lime), which allow not a trace of mystery, let alone give the feeling of nostalgia of the ruins." However, as we would learn later, this thought turned out to be a very misleading 'first impression'.

We were still harbouring doubts of choosing this 'way out' place for study, when we reached the Eklakhi Mausoleum. This was the first building we surveyed and its architecture as well as the material used for building was completely dictated by the local environment (of Bengal). Eklakhi, which means 'of one lakh', is a massive dressed brick structure on which patterns are carved, an adaptation of the traditional method of terracota. Believed to have been built by Jadu (Jalalludin Muhammad Shah after conversion to Islam), the Eklakhi is one of the earliest square-shaped brick-built tombs, having a sloping cornice and a roof richly adorned with floral and geometric patterns. The optically corrected Qutubshahi Mosque built in 1582 offers a wonderful view of the Eklakhi. All our misgivings about our choice of the place vanished instantaneously!

Adina Mosque, Pandua
In the fading daylight we just made it to Adina, which sprawled over an expansive area of 174mX87m, and is the second largest mosque in India and one of the earliest surviving in Bengal. Built by Sultan Sikandar Shah between 1364 and 1374, Adina has stone pillars halfway up (supposedly taken from destroyed Hindu temples) and bricks in the upper half. Adina along with Eklakhi and other buildings of Gour and Pandua provided explanations as to why the architecture developing in Bengal was so very different from contemporary architecture in Delhi or even in Mandu.

Why?
Readymade stone slabs were not available in abundance as there weren't enough elaborate Hindu temples to 'destroy' and this region has a high rainfall and is flood-prone too. The rain inflicted unhygienic conditions, which were the main cause of the shifting of capitals, in effect ensured that plans needed to be executed very fast and what else could have been better than the much favoured light brick.

Structures made later, were all designed on the lines of the Eklakhi, complete with glazed bricks. The Lottan Masjid and Gumti Gate are excellent examples. In fact, nowhere else in India have I seen such magnificent structures of glazed bricks which have survived the test of time.

On the second day, we covered several monuments in both Gour and Pandua, viz. Fath Khan's tomb, Jami Masjid, Baraduari or Barasona Mosque, Firoz Minar, Dakhil Darwaza, Nimserai Minar, Akka Chippi Darwazah, Qadam Rasul and the Chamkatti Masjid. By evening our many explorations and adventures left us quite exhausted to do anything except fall gratefully into our beds.

Day Three was the information-gathering day for the assignment. Starting quite late in the morning, we first set out to visit the museum, library and the Archaeology Department. We don't know whether the lack of exposure of these offices to tourists or our designations as research students did the trick or may be it was their inherent quality of hospitality, we could only conjecture, but we were well assisted in all our research work by the officials. In fact, in the evening when the lights suddenly went off in the library, within seconds a candle appeared by my side, to aid my frantic attempt of data collection on the monuments of Gour and Pandua.

Our ten days of touring places, which included Agra, Delhi, Chandigarh, their surroundings and finally Gour and Pandua, had taken its toll and we soon were longing for a well-deserved break. And inspite of us wanting to gather more information, we decided to go to Calcutta a day before the schedule. Although travel fatigue and humid conditions sagged us during fieldwork, the aura of Gour and Pandua still lingers in my memory.

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Getting There and around:
Trains and Buses depart from Sealdah Junction in Calcutta for Malda. Local transport is hand-pulled carts and cycle-rickshaws. You could also hire a private taxi, especially to visit the ruins at Gour and Pandua.

Note: Although Malda is just above Calcutta on the map and it looks like a 3-hour journey by bus - it isn't! The roadways or railways go north first and then come south to avoid passing through Bangladesh, which invaginates into West Bengal. Surprisingly, the journey takes at least a solid seven hours to reach Malda from Sealdah.

Rembember:
Although the monsoon greenery gave a good wash to the place and was suitable for us, late winters and spring should be the ideal season to visit. Always carry artificial light and mosquito repellents. Start early in the morning and carry rainwear as both the southwest and northeast monsoons lash the eastern region.

Stay and other expenses:
As we were students, second class fare was fairly affordable. The Yatri Niwas run by the State Tourism Board of West Bengal is also nominal in charge. Interior regions of West Bengal are extremely cheap and if the group has a Bengali speaking person, negotiating prices is even easier.