LIVING EXHIBITION

- Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan, India

Atreyee Ghosh

ARCH AA032.001

Critical Conceptual and Curatorial Practices in

Architecture: Colloquium 1 (Operating Platforms)

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Prof. Felicity Scott

December 15, 2010

Exhibition Practices and Exhibiting Architecture –

What constitutes exhibiting architecture?

Does exhibiting happen only in traditional museums,

pavilions, fairs, biennales and similar designated

exhibition spaces? National pavilions and human zoos

depicting a country’s culture started with the Paris

International Exposition of 1867. Are these a justified

depiction? Do they simply feed to the stereotypical images

already in the viewers’ eyes? Even if one considers travel

as a means of experiencing architecture and lifestyle that

one would otherwise not encounter, does one find their

destination at all in today’s global world that looks alike

everywhere? Is the historic fabric that we search for, found

intact and thriving in the way it should be considering the

passage of time and change? Does architecture and lifestyle

need to be exhibited per se in these travel destinations?

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Considering these questions,

this paper embarks on a journey of a living exhibition at

Jaisalmer Fort in Rajasthan, India.

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Jaisalmer Fort, India. From Icon Magazine,Fall 2006.

Living Fort, Living Exhibition –

Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan,

also called the Golden Fort, is the last living fort in

India today. A living fort is a fortified region that has

occupants still living their daily lives in, just like they

have been since the fort was built. In such a case, the fort

is a living reminder of not just architecture, but also the

native culture and the way of life that has been constantly

evolving with its roots in the past.1

The History and Geography –

Jaisalmer Fort was built in

1156 AD by a Bhati Rajput2 ruler, Rawal Jaysal. It stands

amidst the golden stretches of Thar Desert on Trikuta Hill

in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan where massive yellow sandstone walls

help camouflage the fort in the yellow desert; and hence it

derived the name, ‘Golden Fort’.3 Forty-three Maharawals4

1 Online interview with Architect Kulbhushan Jain, by Atreyee Ghosh, Oct15, 20102 Bhati Rajputs are a Rajasthani warrior clan3http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Endangered-Cultural-Treasures- Jaisalmer-Fort-India.html retrieved on Dec 14, 2010 3.16pm4 Maharawals are Bhati Rajput Princes

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have presided the fort and the city since 1156, the present

Maharawal being Brijraj Singh5.

Jaisalmer is a city in the

largest district of the same name, in the state of Rajasthan

and lies on the border of India and Pakistan. It is named

after its founder Rawal Jaysal and literally means “The Hill

Fort of Jaysal”. The city is crowned by a fort which

contains the palace and several ornate Jain temples. Many of

the houses and temples are finely sculpted. It lies in the

heart of the Thar Desert and has a population of about

508,247.6

The visual character of the

city is dominated by the golden yellow color of the locally

available sandstone – the main building material, and also

the vibrant colors of the townspeople. The fort is the

single dominant visual entity in the city. It dominates the

rest of the city with its magnificence and can be spotted

from every part of the city. Jaisalmer is a literal example

of a city where contemporary architecture blends

5 Jaisalmer Fort Tourism Brochure6 http://jaisalmer.nic.in/statics.htm retrieved on Dec 14, 2010 3.23pm

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homogenously with the historical remains. Strict bylaws

about maximum height of structures (G+2), façade treatment,

etc. owe to the retention of the visual character.7

Jaisalmer through the ages –

During medieval times, the

city played a major role in trade with Persia, Arabia,

Egypt and Africa. Since British colonization, due to the

rise of sea trade and the growth of the port of Bombay, the

city experienced a major economic recession. After the

independence and partition of India, the ancient trade route

was totally closed, thus sealing the fate of the city.

Nonetheless, the continued strategic importance of

Jaisalmer was demonstrated during the 1965 and 1971 wars

between India and Pakistan.8 Today Jaisalmer thrives on

tourism, as do many other erstwhile important cities in

India.

Fort construction –

7 Online interview with Architect Kulbhushan Jain, by Atreyee Ghosh, Oct15, 20108 http://www.tourismtravelindia.com/rajasthanportal/touristattractions/sonarquila.html retrieved on Dec 14, 2010 3.39pm

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From as far as 30 miles away,

tourists and visitors see only a sheer golden cliff, rising

nearly 25 stories from the desert floor. Jaisalmer was once

home to the Rajputs—a tribe of warriors and traders who, for

centuries, prospered by levying taxes on the merchants who

wound between Egypt, Persia and India. Prone to warring not

only against outsiders but among themselves, the Rajputs

built a network of intricate fortresses to defend themselves

and their accumulated wealth.9

The fort's main gate, 60 feet

tall and carved from Indian rosewood, has a crack that,

according to legend, appeared when a Hindu saint crossed the

threshold. Three concentric rings of sandstone walls open

onto homes, stables and palaces that once housed Rajput

kings. The outer or the lower layer is made out of solid

stone blocks and it reinforces the loose rubble of Trikuta

Hill. The second, or middle, wall snakes around the fort.

From the innermost, or third, wall, the Rajput warriors once

hurled boiling oil and water as well as massive blocks of

9http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Endangered-Cultural-Treasures- Jaisalmer-Fort-India.html retrieved on Dec 14, 2010 3.33pm

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rock at their enemies, who would become entrapped between

the second and third walls. The defenses of the fort include

99 bastions, of which 92 were built between the periods of

1633-47. 10

Fort today –

The primary income source of

the families living in the fort today is tourism. Although

it has been generations since any Rajput kings ruled here,

Jaisalmer Fort still houses some 2,000 residents, which

makes it India's last "living fort." (India's other famous

forts are abandoned, except for tourist guides.) At one

point the entire population of Jaisalmer lived within the

fort. With the increase in population, people gradually

moved out and found shelter at the foot of Trikuta Hill.11

Organizations involved and their role –

The golden fort did not

achieve living fort status overnight. It has been an ongoing

process with tourism, conservation and politics playing a

10 http://www.tourismtravelindia.com/rajasthanportal/touristattractions/sonarquila.html retrieved on Dec 14, 2010 3.25pm11 http://www.tourismtravelindia.com/rajasthanportal/touristattractions/sonarquila.html retrieved on Dec 14, 2010 3.39pm

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major role. Conservation and restoration works have been

going on since mid-1980s under and by various organizations

like the following. In essence, they have curated the fort’s

exhibiting status.

• Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural

Heritage (INTACH)

• Jaisalmer in Jeopardy (JiJ)

• World Monuments Fund (WMF)

• Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

• Geological Survey of India (GSI)

• Rajasthan State Government

Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH)

–

Architect Kulbhushan Jain is

an Ahmedabad-based conservationist who has been researching

Jaisalmer and the fort in 1970. He had published some

articles documenting and evoking the need for conservation

of the fort. In mid 1980s when

the non-governmental organization

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(NGO) INTACH was set up, Jaisalmer was one of their first

projects. 12

12 Online interview with Architect Kulbhushan Jain, by Atreyee Ghosh,Oct 15, 2010

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Jaisalmer Fort, India. Personal Image. A view of theentrance to the fort.

Jaisalmer in Jeopardy (JiJ) –

Jaisalmer in Jeopardy (JiJ) is

a British-registered charity, established in 1996 by writer

Sue Carpenter, to raise international awareness and funds to

protect and preserve the city’s heritage. JiJ has been

actively involved in conserving various palaces in the fort.

Since its inception in 1996, Jaisalmer in Jeopardy has drawn

attention to and helped finance the first project in the

city, the Restoration of the Maharani's Palace, or Rani-ka

Mahal. It also completed the fourth and final phase of its

flagship project, The Streetscape Revitalization and in

partnership with Giridhar Samarak Trust of Jaisalmer and

World Monuments Fund USA, completed Phases 1 and II of the

restoration of Har Raj Ji Ka Mahal. JiJ also raised over

£170,000 from grants, events, sponsorship, Friends of

Jaisalmer, donations and sales   of Christmas and Diwali

cards, postcards and JiJ merchandise

Following

its initial awareness raising efforts in

the UK, JiJ brought Jaisalmer's plight

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to the attention of the World Monuments Fund, USA which

resulted in Jaisalmer being listed on the World Monuments

Watch program as among its 100 Most Endangered Sites in the

World.  13

13 http://www.jaisalmer-in-jeopardy.org/projects.html retrieved on Dec15, 2010 12.22 pm

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Jaisalmer Fort. projects.html. A view of the restoration activity initiated by JiJ.

World Monuments Fund (WMF) –

World Monuments Fund is an

American private organization dedicated to saving the

world’s most treasured places. In 1997, WMF partnered with

the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage

(INTACH) and in 2003 with Archaeological Survey of India

(ASI) to conserve and re-build parts of various palaces. 

In 1997, WMF partnered with

INTACH to conserve and re-build a collapsed wing of the

Queen’s Palace and in 2001 began work on the courtyard of

the King’s Palace. Both buildings were conserved; the

Queen’s Palace was converted into a heritage interpretive

center and the King’s Palace now functions as part of the

fort palace museum. In July 1999, two bastions and a large

section of the pitching wall collapsed during intense

rainfall. This prompted WMF and the Government of India,

through the Archaeological Survey of India, to sign a

Memorandum of Understanding on 2003 to prepare a

conservation plan and conduct studies required to guide the

stabilization of the fort. Geo-technical and architectural

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surveys were conducted, and a pilot project to restore a

section of the pitching wall was organized. The studies

concluded that it was not foundation failure that was

causing recent building collapses, but water seepage that is

destabilizing the clay-rich soils upon which the

fortifications and buildings rest. Field testing also

revealed subsurface movement in sections of the hillock, and

the Geological Survey of India’s report identified a

fracture or lineament line passing through the southwest

corner of the fort. GSI’s report underscored the

conservation team’s top recommendation to establish an

integrated water management system providing separate storm

water and sewage lines in parallel with stabilization and

conservation works.14

Pressing issues –

Water Damage –

14 http://www.wmf.org/project/jaisalmer-fort retrieved on Dec 15, 201012.23 pm

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Architect Kulbhushan Jain

says, “The single most critical issue is the seepage of

water into the ground through leaking pipes.”15 Water damage

is the most compelling and immediate problem threatening the

fort. In October 2007 Geological Survey of India’s findings

were presented at a public hearing in Jaisalmer. The

existing problems and issues confronting the fort were

outlined, the foremost being widespread water seepage and

the detected

movement

within the

southwest

corner of the

fort. Today,

the Rajasthan

Urban Infrastructure Project, a joint Government of

Rajasthan and Asia Development Bank project, is now in the

process of providing the needed upgrades to the fort’s

15 Online interview with Architect Kulbhushan Jain, by Atreyee Ghosh, Oct 15, 2010

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drainage systems. The studies produced by WMF of the fort

are being used in the design of this infrastructure.16

16 http://www.wmf.org/project/jaisalmer-fort retrieved on Dec 15, 2010 12.23 pm

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Jaisalmer Fort, India.Personal Image. Aview of the waterdamage at one of theentrances to the fort.

Jaisalmer Fort, India.Personal Image. A viewof the water damage onone of the entrances to

"The basic problem is the

sewage system in the fort," says Luca Borella, who moved to

Jaisalmer from France in 1994 and now owns a nine-room

heritage hotel here. "The government built it quickly and

without study." Borella says the sewage system leaks water

directly into the fort's foundations. He and other residents

have called upon the Indian government to repair it.17

Tourism –

Jaisalmer's tourist boom has

only made matters worse. According to local government

estimates, the hotels, restaurants and shops that dot the

historic ridges import nearly 50,000 gallons of water daily.

This water then flows into the sewage system's already-

overstressed open drains. Some international heritage

foundations, such as the World Monuments Fund, are urging

both tourists and residents to scale back their water use –

especially public taps that dispense running water – if they

want the fort to survive the next 1,000 years.

17 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Endangered-Cultural-Treasures-Jaisalmer-Fort-India.html

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Sr.No. Item Unit  Particulars

( i ) Total Tourist in Jaisalmer No. 276887

( ii ) Indian Tourists No. 177451

( iii ) Foreigner Tourists No. 99436

( iv ) Total Hotels in Jaisalmer No. 127

(v ) Total Rooms in all Hotels No. 1963

(vi) Paying guest Houses No. 3

The situation is so urgent

that even Lonely Planet makes their stand clear, “One of the

world's most endangered monuments, Jaisalmer Fort is slowly

self-destructing due to pressure on the city's ancient

drainage system. Staying within the fort is no longer a

sustainable practice, as increased water consumption has

left the fort infrastructure in danger of collapse. For this

reason Lonely Planet has taken the decision not to recommend

any hotels or restaurants within the fort in our guidebooks

or on lonelyplanet.com. We encourage travelers to make an

ethical decision when visiting Jaisalmer.”18 The locals are

18http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1630528 retrieved on Dec 14, 2010 3.46pm

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http://jaisalmer.nic.in/statics.htm retrieved on Dec 15, 2010 3.30pm. Jaisalmer Tourism statistics.

obviously not happy. Will the fort have to lose its living

status at the cost of conservation and preservation?

Climate change –

Asheesh Srivastava, a

conservation architect with the Lucknow, India-based firm

ANB Consultants, has surveyed Jaisalmer and agrees the

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Jaisalmer Fort. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2086/1968346712_182a135bd8.jpg. Reaction against Lonely Planet’s stand taken for the fort.

sewage system needs to be redesigned. But he argues that

global climate change is the primary culprit. "In an arid

region that was not designed to face rainfall, we are now

facing rainfall," says Srivastava. When Jaisalmer was built,

the Thar Desert received six to nine inches of rain per

year. In the summer of 2007, 22 inches of rain fell in just

three days. Although some would consider increased rainfall

a blessing for such an arid region, it can be a headache for

preservationists. When Raja Jaysal's workers built Jaisalmer

in the 12th century, they topped many of the buildings with

three feet of mud as insulation to keep interiors cool.

Nowadays, the rains turn the roofs to sludge, which causes

buildings to collapse.19

Earthquakes –

Earthquakes in Rajasthan and

Gujarat – a neighboring state are another reason for worry.

On January 26, 2001 a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck near

Jamnagar, a town in the coastal state of Gujarat, about 200

miles away. The tremors shook the foundations of the fort.

19http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Endangered-Cultural-Treasures- Jaisalmer-Fort-India.html retrieved on Dec 14, 2010 3.33pm

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The buildings transfer load vertically. Every lateral

movement damages the fortress. A moderate earthquake struck

Rajasthan in April 2009, leading to cracking and deflection

in the King’s Palace. The tremor exacerbated the ailing

condition of the building and raised the threat of a

catastrophic collapse. In 2010, WMF provided funding for

emergency stabilization of the structure.20

Urbanization –

The residents don’t pretend to

eschew modernity totally and deny the perks of changing

times. The fort has electricity, water supply and drainage

systems, television and even internet accessibility. Cars

and bikes have replaced the pedestrians, camels, and at the

most, bicycles that hitherto traversed the crooked streets.

Although, a majority of the population is comfortable in and

is regularly wearing western

dress and has started

inculcating ‘modern’ habits

in their lifestyle, cashing

20 http://www.wmf.org/project/jaisalmer-fort retrieved on Dec 15, 201012.23 pm

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in on tourists need for experiencing ‘authenticity’, locals

have also begun using their traditional appeal by way of

attire and display of traditional lifestyle.

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Hotel Jaisal Palace. http://www.holidayiq.com/images/property/resortimg/5038_1.jpg

Jaisalmer Fort. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2372/1617498642_b41d76edb0.jpg

To quote a passage regarding

the changing lifestyles of the Rajasthani people from a

tourism brochure of the fort, “For centuries people

continued to live as their forefathers. In recent years,

however, with the availability of water becoming easier, the

lifestyle of the desert people has started to change

dramatically. Even as the arid desert has turned green,

tourism has started to emerge as a major industry. The

tradition cultural modes have begun yielding place to the

more contemporary ones, as evident particularly in the

changing sartorial fashions, as also in the modes of

entertainment. The time honored dhoti and kurta have been

transformed into trousers and shirts and the characteristic

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picturesque turban is now donned mainly only on ceremonial

occasions. The lehenga-chunri is increasingly being replaced

with the more convenient sari, especially in the city. Cinema

and television have brought about a sea change in the

entertainment environs with Hindi film music being preferred

over the melodies of the Langas and the Manganiyars.’21

21 Jaisalmer fort Tourism Brouchure

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http://www.dailytravelphotos.com/images/2010/100121_jodhpur_india_turban_rajasthani_man_portrait_travel_photography_MG_9100.jpg andhttp://www.corbisimages.com/Search#p=8&q=rajasthan. Changes in attire and tourism

Human zoos – living exhibitions of other kinds

A Human zoo (also

called "Ethnological Expositions" or "Negro Villages") was a

19th and 20th century public exhibit of human beings usually

in their natural or "primitive" state. These displays

usually emphasized the cultural differences between

indigenous and traditional peoples and Western publics. In

1906, socialite and amateur anthropologist Madison Grant,

head of the New York Zoological Society, had Congolese pygmy

Ota Benga put on display at the Bronx Zoo in New York City

alongside apes and other animals. At the behest of Grant, a

prominent eugenicist, the zoo director placed Ota Benga in a

cage with an orangutan and labeled him The Missing Link,

illustrating that in

evolutionary terms

Africans like Ota

Benga were closer to

apes than were

Europeans. The

concept of the human zoo has not completely disappeared. A

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Congolese Village was displayed at the Brussels 1958 World's

Fair. An African Village was opened in Augsburg's zoo in

Germany in July 2005. According to a June 1994 article by Le

Monde diplomatique, a human zoo was present in the village

of Huang-Haen in Burma, visited by most tourist agencies.22

22 http://www.ghettoology.co.uk/PAGES/XFACT/archives/st/stpages/Human%20zoo/Human%20zoo.html retrieved on Dec 15, 2010 3.47 pm

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http://www.ghettoology.co.uk/PAGES/XFACT/archives/st/stpages/Human%20zoo/Ota%20Benga.jpg. Ota Benga. With a sign outside the monkey house at the Bronx Zoo - The African Pigmy, "Ota Benga."Age, 23 years. Height, 4 feet 11 inches.Weight, 103 pounds. Brought from the Kasai

Summing up –

Jaisalmer fort in Rajasthan,

India is, in effect, a huge-scale exhibition. It is

orchestrated by not just the organizations working towards

conservation of traditions and culture but also by residents

themselves. In fact, the need for depiction of old-

worldliness and ‘authentic’ Rajasthani culture in the fort

is so strong for tourism purposes that locals are overdoing

it, sometimes at the cost of comfort and reason.

The fort today demonstrates an

evolving civilization. On the surface, with a millennium-

rich history, Jaisalmer fort embraces modernity and walks

with the times, without losing touch with its

heritage. However witnessing the way this co-existence is

manifested physically today, one begins rethinking its

authenticity. The revival of dying historic culture through

conservation and tourism is laudable but pronounced passive

reminiscence and nostalgia for the past at the cost of

progress might make the place redundant in the future.

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One questions if that is

alright though. If one should really convert an entire fort,

or even an entire city or region into a ‘tourist

destination’ or a living exhibition for people from every

corner of the world to come and experience. But tourism is

partially responsible for the degraded state of the fort

today. Since when did tourism stop being a positive force

and become parasitic? And what then constitutes exhibiting

architecture and culture? Does it need to be displayed like

caged animals or human zoos? Or should one take more of a

jungle safari approach, where visitors may travel the land

of the lions in an open jeep, encounter the new in its own

habitat per se?

The case in point is

“traditionalist and at the same time modern, that looks to

the past and at the same time to the future.” “It is not

simply an exhibition; it is a demonstration of civilization

and history in action.”23 Today, Jaisalmer Fort remains a

labyrinth of residences, shops, temples, and a palace

23 Jeffrey Schnapp, "Fascism's Museum in Motion," Journal ofArchitectural Education 45, no. 2 (February 1992): 87-97

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complex. Its walls surround a thriving city; 2,000 residents

make this the last living fort in India. Conservation and

preservation is integral to the longevity of this medieval

architectural marvel and to the lives of people who call

Jaisalmer Fort home. However all such efforts take shape

through tourism, it being the one economic hope that the

city relies on.

The Jaisalmer paradox is that

the living fort is changing and evolving with the times.

However mere restoration and preservation could lead the

fort to meet the same fate of other ‘tourist attractions’

forts in India, i.e. museumization. The fine line between

people living of their own accord here to make this a

‘living exhibition’ and people being forced to live/leave

here in certain manners to convert it into yet another human

zoo is very transitional. The only hope is that the current

efforts in dealing with the issue don’t end up “burying the

very thing it claims to resurrect.”24

24 Jeffrey Schnapp, "Fascism's Museum in Motion," Journal ofArchitectural Education 45, no. 2 (February 1992): 87-97

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