Malavika Prasanna - Week 8

ARCHITECTURE AS A SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE 


The piece by Amita Sinha and Rajat Kant describes erstwhile Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati's architecture in Lucknow as 'landscapes of empowerment' for the Dalit community. The authors go on to explore the various manifestations of power, which they list as follows: "Power is communicated through location, visibility, enfilade, architecture, scale, statuary, and spectacular affect."

Of all the features listed in the quote, the tag of visibility strikes a reflective chord with most other engagements that I have had with literature on marginalized communities. The lower-castes in India, the castes falling outside the framework of the caste system, have always been invisible to those in the higher echelons. Invisible in this context means that they are not relevant to the thoughts and sympathies of the upper castes, so long as they continue to accept subjugation without question.

Invisibility of Dalits and other castes is writ all over Indian history, be it with respect to their civil, political & social rights, or with respect to their food and culture, or with respect to their restricted access into shared public spaces. The urban and elite world knows little or nothing about the Dalit way of life, and it never bothers to find out any more other. This contributes to the lack of their visibility in our books, stories and even cities.

Mayawati, as the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party, has claimed a Dalit space in books, stories and public parts of cities through the assertion of an elite royal trend – she “sought to leave legacy in stone.” The parks and memorials built in honour of Dalit heroes and struggles are made of stones and concrete rafts, making them hard to demolish. They will now remain as stark reminders of Dalit communities and their history – They are hard to invisible-ise and hard to erase.

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