'Devotees expect grandness in the home of God': Vandana Sehgal

Interview/ Vandana Sehgal, architect and academician

What were the most prominent features of ancient Ayodhya?

The Saryu makes an oxbow bend at Ayodhya. The original city was nestled within that bend. According to some texts, the original Ayodhya goes back to 600 BCE. So it is logical to believe that there would have been use of earth and stone, not brick. I believe in the permanence of a place, the continuity with which it has existed for eons. The place remains, we just keep building and rebuilding over it. Many places exist in our psyche. For example, Sita ki Rasoi (the kitchen of Sita). Our logical mind might argue about its impossibility, but then why is only that place called so? The Saryu has changed course, but still the Ram ki Paidi (a series of ghats along a stretch of water that is now pumped from the Saryu through motor pumps) remains revered. Belief gives it a strong sense of sacred space. There is so much mythology that, to a believing mind, it is difficult to say where mythology ends and history begins. Religiosity becomes more animated with mythology.

What about the more recent city?

The city’s most recent form would have been constructed in 15th-17th century when the influence of Buddhism waned. Thus, the profuse use of lakhauri bricks (flat, thin, red burnt clay bricks). The grain of the city is dense with a strong vernacular imprint. It has a typical typology. Any old haveli will have a big courtyard with a mandir at its centre. The living rooms were around the courtyard. Same in Kashi, but with smaller mandirs.

Elaborate on the importance of the Saryu, both in terms of how the city is built and the element of faith invested in it.

The city is at an elevation, so there was a natural drainage system. The Saryu is lower than the original city (Ram Kot, the palace of Ram), yet not so low that accessibility is an issue. The lay of the land, climate and geography were beautifully incorporated into the city. Man never imposed his will on the geographical mandate. Water was and is an important part of all rituals including the circumambulation (there are three main ones in Ayodhya). Near all the mandirs that fall on the parikrama marg are kunds (tanks or reservoirs) where devotees wash themselves before entering a sacred space. Over the years many of these kunds have been lost or become dirty. They are now being revived. I believe the whole ecosystem of a space can be revived holistically by restoring its water bodies.

Explain the idea of sacred geography in our holy cities.

In layman’s terms, think of it as a palmist’s chart. The sacred geography of a place is the mathematical and geographical representation of the cosmos on a piece of paper or land. Our shastras describe the mandalas (the collective name for a plan that represents the universe). These can be of various shapes―square, circle―and are distinct for varied functions and sites. Every space within that shape has a significance and is, at times, associated with a planet. This significance is in turn associated with function. Our gods are so interwoven and penetrate each other’s stories in a beautiful way. The Shiv temple at Kashi, for instance, has a strong Vishnu khand (space). The Vindyawasini temple (dedicated to a form of Durga) is one angle of an equilateral triangle―with Lakshmi and Saraswati forming the other angles. There is a scientific/mathematical calculation to the building of temples. Now with newer technology like GIS (geographic information system) and GPR (ground penetrating radar) we can understand better the precision with which our temples were built.

In architecture there is parti―the idea from which you start. It can be as tangible as a river or as intangible as a belief. The architect chosen for the project specialises in creating mandir as per mandalas. The tangible and the intangible aspects are fused and then functionality (for example catering to one lakh devotees) follows.

There is an argument that in developing Ayodhya, the city’s old charm and essence has been lost. What are your thoughts?

For those with a philosophical bent of mind, God might live everywhere. Mythology simplifies philosophy for a layman. Thus to have stories―this is the path that Sita walked down, this is where her dowry was stored―makes us live the stories in many tangible and intangible ways. We want to believe it happened. Nothing surpasses God. Thus, devotees expect an awe-inspiring grandness in God’s house, no matter how simply they themselves might live. The history of architecture itself is about how God is manifested in architecture. While approaching the reigning deity in the sanctum sanctorum, one goes through a whole gamut of emotions. Political power and religion have always gone hand in hand. In the case of Ayodhya, there is no comparison to be drawn from the past because God has either been under a tent or in a makeshift temple. There is thus that yearning for a missing grandness befitting Ram.

Vandana Sehgal is principal and dean, faculty of architecture and planning, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University. She was part of the committee formed by the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to choose the architects for the temple precincts, and planning firm to upgrade Ayodhya.