SA Sites and Cities: The Ever Evolving Allahabad by Shriya Gautam

Hold it right there! Save your breath. Don't expect me

Allahabad juxtaposed with Prayagraj 

to call it Prayagraj. The blue of a city I share part of my maternal heritage from never responded to that name. Devprayag if you must absolutely insist but it hasn't been that in several centuries. There's not much of Devprayag left, though, to be fair. 

Like I said, it's not a city anymore, it's  a blur-a place where past gasps out of the present like a drowning man gasps for air, beating helplessly at the surface of water. 

Allahabad (anglicised version
of Illahabad) was originally
named after the secular religion
Mughal Emperor wished to
propagate and was named after the
 eponymous Illahabad Fort

No matter how much you try to saffronise it, Allahabad is secular, just like the Mughal Emperor, who decided to call it that but its fate is not too different than that of the unorthodox great-grandson, who was a "pestilent infidel" in the eyes of his more religious little brother. Yes, Allahabad is no Akbar in the era of Din-I-Ilahi, but Dara Shukoh caught in the southern winds ushered in by the devout Aurangzeb. Of course, the Aurangzeb of the present times dons a saffron robe and while the south-west winds may change a name, they cannot change the character of this proud, diverse city. 
Every second building here is old, magnificent-a delicious blend of the Hindu, the Muslim and quite so often, the Gothic elements. Distinctly Mughal jharokas adorn every other house, a Gothic façade peeps out from where you least expect to find it and  every now and then, you catch a fleeting glimpse of an onion-shaped dome or an arch. 

So much history, not enough time...

Mughal Tombs of Khusro Bagh, combining the best of Rajputana and Persian elements. The Empress Consort of Jehangir, Hindu Princess Man Bai and their children, Nisar Begum and Khusro lie buried here.

I don't mean this entirely as a tourist. Yes, there's so much to see here that one lifetime isn't enough. You can live here all your life and you still cannot have seen it all. This complexity, however, is multiplied  for an archaeologist because even if a thousand lifetimes were spent trying to rescue this city archaeologically, you cannot possibly manage the feat. You can change its name, change the people who rule over it but you can never save Allahabad from itself. 

Allahabad (or Prayagraj, if you absolutely must!) is a city trapped between its past which refuses to evacuate all the streets and houses it still rents from the present and the future that refuses to bow down in defeat. Try exercising it the Hindu, the Muslim or the Christian way but it's  a haunted city: haunted by the grandeur of the past, by the promises of the future. Time melts here and while so many perish in the tussle between the modern development and traditional simplicity, the Hindu sankara, the Muslim tehzeeb and the Christian etiquette, the only survivors are the pathetic ghosts of past-so old that they are like aged people with amnesia.

We may change its name but with every passing day we are killing the essence of this ancient city that thrived under natives and foreigners alike. The humdrum of vehicles, the crass and vulgar day houses and malls, demolishing every trace of cultural synchronicity and harmony the city has stood for in a thousand years at least if not more, is slowly strangling it. 

I do not specialise in raising slogans like the present government. Nor do I think I am fit to point out the follies of the rulers of the past. I am an archaeologist who believes that regardless of my religion or caste, my belief in God or my agnosticism, the heritage sites that lend character to Allahabad are being lost irretrievably everyday. It's true that there's always been a religious tint to the city but no matter what religion the patron of a monument adhered to, the heritage site itself has no religion. It belongs to us all. It has had its role in shaping our present. It makes us who we are. Religion may be a tool in the hands of powerful people but it matters very little to history what religion ruled when and who renamed a city into what. Heritage belongs to us all and it's our duty to protect it, to do as much as we possibly can about it, to make it accessible to everyone. 

Note: Posted below are some pictures revealing the present state of heritage in the city, that is a victim of so-called development and religious politics.

The Illahabad Fort, vandalised despite being under military protection and ASI recognition.

Sculpture of Linga-aradhna in the Underground Patalpuri Temple within the compounds of Illahabad Fort. The Temple stands testimony to the Mughal policy of Religious Tolerance since the local Hindus were always allowed inside the fort to pray under the Mughal regime.

Tomb of Shah Begum Man Bai, Consort of the Mughal Emperor Jehangir, built in accordance with prevalent Hindu Architectural Styles of the time. The structure, despite being a protected monument under ASI, is littered and vandalised .