If Taj Mahal isn't our heritage, what is?

The recent news item that the Taj Mahal has been shorn of its status as a symbol of UP’s cultural heritage has sent alarm bells ringing. The state government has apparently not made any budgetary provision for the inclusion of this great monument in its plan for the development of cultural heritage sites.

The argument is that while the Taj Mahal may be a beautiful structure, it is not representative of India or Indian culture. Outrageous and lopsided as it may sound, the statement also gives room for thought on what culture is.

Is culture indigenous or is it an amalgam? I would say, it is both. It is native to the soil from which it springs up; it is also enriched by what it absorbs through the vagaries of history. The history of humankind has always had conquerors and the conquered, with the former having an inevitable despotic hold over the latter. After all, what else was conquest for?

India has always attracted invaders and conquerors, for such is the lure of the country. But each one of them has added to it as much as they have taken away from this country. From architectural splendours to tongue-tickling cuisine to improvement in living conditions, the contribution of the conquerors cannot be undermined, and the strength of our country has always been the ability to assimilate and amalgamate changing trends into existing conditions. Although one cannot deny that enslavement was a bitter pill to swallow, the diversity and the richness of our culture rests on this very amalgam.

The Taj Mahal is not just an internationally acclaimed monument; it is a symbol of India’s cultural diversity and heritage. Dismissing it as just another beautiful piece of architecture appears preposterous. While the aesthetics of the Taj Mahal has captured the eye of the world, there are also many other contributions of the conquerors who ruled this country, poignant stories of selfless sacrifice and noble endeavours, relegated to the backwaters of Indian history.
If we have to excavate the past to show what our culture is, it surely is worthwhile to also unearth some of these contributions. One such is the Mullaperiyar dam and the history behind its extraordinary construction.

It was the year 1876, and British colonial rule was at its peak. The Madras Province, as the present southern states were then known, was under the grip of a severe famine and the worst hit was the rain-shadow region around Madurai in Tamil Nadu, perpetually drought-hit and prone to crop failure.
The British had been grappling with this problem for years, one suggestion being to divert the Periyar river waters to this region by constructing a dam. Finally, in 1885, the onus of carrying out this herculean task was laid on the shoulders of Col. John Pennycuik of the Madras Engineers.

Engineering marvel

Located in the Western Ghats of Kerala, the Periyar river has a natural westward gradient towards the Arabian Sea. Harnessing these waters and diverting them eastwards to link it with the Vaigai river was the challenge that lay ahead of Pennycuick.

A man of indomitable spirit and driven by a strong sense of purpose, he set about this task. The limestone, gravity dam first created a reservoir 3,000-feet above sea level, which functioned as a watershed. Then, through a deep cutting in the dense malaria-ridden jungle for about a mile and then a mile-long subterranean tunnel, the water flowed into a natural ravine and into the Vaigai river.
After several initial disasters, when the embankments were periodically washed away by floods and the British government showed its reluctance to continue with the project, Pennycuick is said to have gone back to England, sold his ancestral property and his wife’s jewels and returned to complete what he had started.

Widely considered as “one of the most extraordinary feats of engineering ever performed by man”, the achievement also earned Pennycuick the accolade, “the man who changed the course of a river”, and in doing so changed the lives of thousands of people. In what was once a parched, water-starved region, we now see lush green paddy fields encircled by canopies of banana plants, grapevines and coconut trees, while farm-bred Jersey cows graze leisurely amidst rich foliage.

The Periyar National Park in Thekkady, located in the uplands of the dam’s man-made reservoir, is a naturalist’s paradise and attracts as many tourists as the Taj Mahal.
Culture is enlightenment and refinement, inextricably linked with the past. A vibrant culture is like a colourful kaleidoscope, which absorbs and reflects the changes that come its way. A single homogenous culture of one language, one religion and one past will not only lack lustre but will also be the first step towards oblivion.

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant once remarked, “enlightenment is man’s emergence from self-incurred immaturity”. Let us hope that sensitive, mature thinking will prevail in preserving the culture and heritage of this great country.