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The tower of Chennai’s Kapaleeswaar Temple
 

sensational cities
Published in the July-September 2009 issue.

Thomas E. King travels to India’s four greatest cities to uncover their Indian and colonial past and vibrant present.


Any city that can rightly claim to be the capital of over 1.1 billion or so people packed into a country less than half the size of Australia, in which 18 languages and around 1,600 dialects are spoken, must surely be special. India’s capital, New Delhi is special, indeed, and for many reasons.

For a start, there is not just one Delhi: archaeologists have uncovered seven of them. Monuments and historical sites from the city’s seven incarnations still exist, but many visitors find that the last two – Old and New Delhi – hold the most interest.

View over Delhi's Friday Mosque domes towards the Red Fort

 
Old Delhi dates from around 1638, when the city’s nucleus was planned by Shah Jahan, Moghul emperor and master builder responsible for the Taj Mahal. The Shah also built the two most important monuments of Old Delhi: the Red Fort and the Friday Mosque.

The Red Fort, completed in 1648, is Old Delhi’s most magnificent monument. Part palace to house the imperial family, part fortress to contain an army, the Red Fort, with its red-sandstone walls, was built strategically on low-lying ground, so that it couldn’t be seen by a hostile army unless the attack was mounted from across the River Yamuna, the same waterway that flows behind the Taj Mahal.

The Friday Mosque, commonly known as the Jama Masjid and officially Masjid-i Jahan-Numa (Persian for ‘world-reflecting mosque’) is sited across a green expanse from the Red Fort and is particularly beautiful in the setting sun. At this time of day, it is difficult to see all the lines of this massive red-stone-and-marble mosque, but silhouettes of minarets and fleeting pigeons make unforgettable photographs.

A shoe salesman in central Jaipur
 

Cameras don’t stop clicking when you leave Jama Masjid and venture into New Delhi, a city planned by a brace of British architects: the renowned Edwin Lutyen and Herbert Baker. The hub of the capital, Connaught Place, is dotted with trendy coffee houses, cinemas showing films in English and Hindi, handicraft shops, smart boutiques, elegant restaurants and airline offices.

Wide, tree-lined streets radiate in multiple directions from Connaught Place. One street will take you past the Dhyan Chand National Stadium, set to feature prominently in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Farther on is the National Zoological Park and Gardens of New Delhi, also known as Delhi Zoo, where exotics such as the rare one-horned Indian rhinoceros can be seen in predominantly open-range enclosures.  

New Delhi has a number of treasure-houses – such as the National Museum, which houses a fine collection of Indian bronzes, sculptures fashioned from terracotta and wood, and musical instruments.

The former administrative buildings of British India in Kolkata
 

To get a little off the beaten track, head over to Teen Murti Bhawan, the Nehru Memorial Museum. Smaller than the National Museum, it’s the residence of the first prime minister of India. A battered briefcase lies in a corner of his study, still. Books to which the statesman referred line the walls; files rest on a tray to the left of his desk.  Everything is exactly as it was when ‘Pandit’ Jawaharlal Nehru died, in the early hours of 27 May, 1964.

There’s another time capsule in Mumbai. Mahatma Gandhi made frequent visits to the city, back when it was known as Bombay. The residence in which this tireless freedom fighter stayed periodically from 1917 to 1934, Mani Bhavan is now a museum with some intriguing exhibits. One room has remained untouched since Gandhi stayed there last. There’s even an original letter he wrote to Hitler.

One of the many monuments that Gandhi would have encountered during his time in Mumbai is also the first thing passengers see as ships approach the nation’s largest city. The basalt Gateway to India, which commemorates the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911, faces Mumbai Harbour in a bustling area known as Colaba.    

Marine Drive in Mumbai
 

This is a place to see and be seen; Bollywood actors and crew flock here after they finish filming for the day to chill out with colleagues in the venerable Taj Mahal Hotel, which looms behind the landmark arch. Built before the arrival of royalty, this fixture on Mumbai’s social scene is considered by many to be the doyen of city hotels.

Despite its size, Mumbai is not an overly difficult city to navigate once you’ve bridged the distance between the international airport and central city. The city’s core is eminently walkable – and walking is recommended, for anyone wanting to experience the essence of Mumbai.

A short stroll north from the Gateway to a rather unusual transport hub reveals several of the city’s architectural standouts. The best collection of these faces the Oval Maidan. During the 1860s and ’70s, the British constructed a series of grandiose buildings here, including Bombay University. Nowadays, bowlers attempt to emulate their favourite cricketers before an ornate building that wouldn’t be out of place in a Harry Potter epic.

Spices for sale at a local market
 

Farther on is a British-built showstopper that looks more like a cathedral than a railway station. Built in 1887 and still in use as a major transport hub, Victoria Terminus, now known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, is so extravagant that this stained-glass and gargoyle-embellished building was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004. Indeed, this was the first railway station on the list.

If a road is ever included on that list, a front-runner for nomination awaits – in South India. Few cities in India have major thoroughfares linking modern settlements to those of the past. Chennai, better known as Madras, is an exception, and you’ll find out why when you drive along M Anna Salai (formerly known as Mount Road), its ‘highway of history’. Though the road spans just 13 kilometres, from the international airport to Chennai’s central business area, you’ll cross centuries as you barrel towards one of India’s most historically diverse cities.

The major arterial was originally named after St Thomas Mount, a 76-metre-high hill fronting the heavily used thoroughfare near the airport atop which the Apostle – believed to have brought Christianity to South India – was pierced to death around 72 AD.  

A Mumbai market
 

One detour off the former Mount Road is worth the effort, as it showcases India’s ‘living past’. Many centuries before the metropolis became one of the British strongholds on the subcontinent, a number of independent villages including Mylapore, Triplicane and Thiruvottiyur (all now part of Chennai’s greater metropolitan area) were centres of religion, culture and trade. Through these ports, 11th-century kings traded with Persia and China.  

Of all the inner-city suburbs of Chennai, my favourite is Mylapore, which was known nearly 1,900 years ago to Egyptian geographer Ptolemy as Mylarphan. The traditions of its Kapaleeswarar temple are even older. Topped with a soaring gopuram, a sculptured, wedge-shaped tower sprouting a galaxy of Hindu gods and goddesses, this sanctuary has an interior that’s even more fascinating. I watched as naked-to-the-waist priests with half-shaven heads circled brass bowls of fire around worshippers while sari-clad women, their plaited hair interwoven with sweet-scented flowers, graciously paid tribute to gods of a timeless religion.  

There are reminders of colonial days at the end of Mount Road, too. Madras was established around 1642 as the British East India Company’s initial trading station on the country’s eastern shores. Construction of Fort St George, the first bastion of British rule in India, began in 1639 and was completed 11 years later.

While many vestiges of those early days remain – such as St Mary’s, the oldest Anglican church in India, and Wellesley House, the home of Colonel Arthur Wellesley, who later became the first Duke of Wellington – the Fort has a thoroughly modern function, now housing the state’s Legislative Assembly, Council and Secretariat.

Unlike Chennai, Kolkata, once known as Calcutta, is a relatively young city with a history dating back only about 300 years. There is much to see in this commercial metropolis, which was the capital of British India before that honour was shifted to New Delhi in 1911.

The most imposing of any building in this 15-million-strong metropolis (though officially, the city’s population is seven or eight million, millions more inhabit its vast suburban sprawl) and the one that underscores Kolkata’s strong British influence is the Victoria Memorial, a white-marble edifice dedicated to Queen Victoria. Inside is a collection of some of the personal belongings of the Queen as well as a number of paintings from the days of the British administration.

The memorial fronts onto the Maidan, justifiably referred to as the ‘lungs’ of Kolkata.   

Surrounding and within the green expanse are football fields, a golf course, a racecourse (the Royal Calcutta Turf Club, prominent in the horse-racing world) and a well-laid-out park called Eden Gardens, in which cricket matches are held.

In the evenings, the whole of Kolkata seems to converge on the Maidan and a street parallel to it, Jawaharlal Nehru Road (formerly known as Chowringhee Road). Pavement vendors do booming business here, hawking handicrafts, clothes, toys, picture albums and just about everything else imaginable.

The south end of Jawaharlal Nehru Road intersects Park Street, with its fashionable shops, hotels and restaurants. The other end of Jawaharlal Nehru Road is a world apart: here, tourists encounter the bustling crowds and unkempt streets of old Calcutta. Here, too, visitors can find the real heart and soul of this thriving city. An outstanding point of reference is the Nakhoda Mosque, a beautiful red-sandstone building that can accommodate a congregation of 10,000.
The mosque sits in the midst of one of the city’s busiest bazaars. Continue south to see Kolkata’s largest attraction: the 66-year-old, cantilevered Howrah Bridge.

Its mighty steel frame is even more impressive during a cruise on the Hooghly River. The tiny motor-launch passes beneath the massive structure and continues upriver to show its passengers even more of this fascinating and oft-misunderstood city

Photography by Tom King, Brian Johnston and India Tourism.


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