Teen Darwaza and Bhadra Fort in Ahmedabad, An Ethnographic Study

Art, Design and Environment

An Introduction

An occasionally vacant street, Teen Darwaza is a hub of action. (Darwaza means a gate in English and teen represents number three). The monument is three gates stretched across a street to become an entrance which leads to Ranino Haziro. (Ranino Haziro is Queens Tomb, which was built by the Founder King, Ahmed Shah in Honour of his queen).




 Located in the city of Ahmedabad (Gujarat), it’s a place to get lost within the crowd; it hosts a myriad number of activities. Bhadra fort is the area with an ongoing market and a place visited by a lot of worshippers, who visit the Bhadrakali temple, which overlooks the monumental gate.

 

It has evolved over a period of time from being an area where huge business turnovers used to take place,  a few decades back, to the one which recently comprises of a series of hawkers and shop keepers who earn their living, to old buildings in which people live and a place which attracts tourists. Teen Darwaza outlines an intriguing history of Ahmedabad to provide an overview of an ever emerging and ongoing synergy of change.

During our first visit to the place I was overwhelmed to sense how a place can uncover and arouse a huge number of avenues to explore and understand from. Starting from many colours which changed as a result of the series of events which unveiled subsequently to the ones which remained constant, and the varied products being sold at different periods of time made me think of order which rests in what seems to be a very complex and multi-layered setting by itself. For more, almost everything starting from jewellery to utensils is sold. Anyone starting a home can easily acquire all the paraphernalia.

I was overwhelmed to look at the number of expressions which people wore over their faces as I passed by them. Some perhaps bore fatigue of a worried sleep; some watched the foreigners with an odd curiosity expressing a cultural shock after looking at the very different way in which they carried themselves. End number of young sellers and their siblings around them sat as they worked to support the rest of them.

There is more than what meets the eye at the threshold of Bhadra Fort, which leads to Manek Chowk and Ranino Haziro. At the very first sight, unforgiving number of images splashed across my mind and the uncomfortable question of rendering the same experience in the form of an authentic outcome felt a challenging task. Moreover in an attempt to grope with my exploration of understanding the space in context of social, cultural, political as well as in the subjects unexplored such as expression and feelings for instance, I felt sounds of the activity of the market almost gave my thoughts a pregnant pause.

The pleasure I was given from looking at the possibilities of images to be captured, primarily was that of being glorified at the number of questions which rose in my mind to the enthusiasm of wanting to record as much as I could through the senses.

As I stepped into the space, every time with the camera, I clicked end number of images of the entire area to see how the form of the space transformed over a period of time.

One of the tasks I had on hand was to capture the place through my senses as well as present the same in a concrete outcome. Change in colours due to change in the temperature of the day as well as owing to the different festivals like Janmastami, Navratri and Diwali have been recorded through the camera in form of static images.

 One of the most insightful learning was about our relationships with the spaces. The relationship which people who occupy the place they share, and how the same transforms when the place changes. The relationships form from our experiences and we subsequently tend to identify the place in set ways or mindsets. Last year I was educated into fear as we were asked to evacuate the place foreseeing the threat of riots after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in Pakistan.

Now that I have been to the same place oftentimes and quite to my surprise find the place in harmony, inspite of the manifold pulse of diversity it hosts in the form of socio-cultural, economic and architectural differences, I feel the comfort rests in the heart of the place.

Exploring the 3 months old notes, I see that my own perception has shifted magnificently from letting go off the fear to training my eye to observe changes in the form of colour, time, temperature- to holding a much detached study of the place, I have so come to be fascinated thoroughly by.

My old notes talk about my feelings and responses to the experiences we had. What I present now is a more focused view which is much more clarified, distilled and detached from the distractions that condition our everyday way of seeing and saying.

My insatiable curiosity of wanting to look at the relationships people share with the place and the environment found some intriguing answers in the process about my inquiry and myself.

This study also gave me a long awaited opportunity to explore several mediums which include photography, video documentary, collage and maps to gain an understanding of how they aid in communicating my learning.

Having understood design as a problem solving process I applied much of it to figure out a road map which will best express my experiences and at the same time observed that at Teen Darwaza, design sense and application of the same was all pervading though the artists and workers may not have been trained designers. 

The ongoing process has been a challenge because not everyone who worked there wanted to engage in a conversation and sometimes people would act differently when they saw the camera and the notebook. An easier path would have been to change my appearance and visit, and I felt that I would rather to embrace the challenge and the spontaneity of their reaction being the way I am, an outsider. I am humbled by the thought that not everyone always wanted to engage in the conversation when I visited, because it is how thoughts exist. An answer is not in the present moment at all times. Art was all pervading just like design. Teen Darwaza is a live example of how art and design are innate and that they do not necessarily have to be taught and trained.  

I thank all the people who talked to me about their stories and experiences.

These notes deal in the present. History cannot be photographed nor can the future be. A photograph, I feel only speaks of the moment, a brief one that too. A place is always there and I met new people every day, some who felt that a stranger with a camera was at the threshold of their house like chawl, and others who waited to smile before the camera and wishfully thinking that their photograph was to appear in the newspaper the other day!!

About Teen Darwaza

Adjacent to Teen Darwaza rests the Bhadra Fort. On the right hand of the Bhadra Fort is the beautiful Bhadrakali temple which is built in white stone. On the left end of the Bhadra Fort lies the entrance to the area which overlooks the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Office. Beside Bhadrakali temple, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has an Ahmedabad Book Depot. Walking towards Teen Darwaza the main road is subdivided into two parts as the statue of the re-known Industrialist; Chinubhai Ranchodlal, is located in the traffic Island. He was the first Baronet, great Industrialist and a philanthropist of Ahmedabad. Prema bhai hall overlooks the traffic Island whereas the extreme left of the same is a police station. Both the streets further meet before Teen Darwaza with shops categorically clustered at their ends and a vast number of hawkers.

Focus of the study

Teen Darwaza being a historical place comprises of multi-layered, socio-cultural, economical and religious diversity. Due to its history, which holds one of the most violent riots, it is more than often also perceived to be a place where riots could take place over religious beliefs and differences. The objective is that of forming an informed opinion of my own, as well as look at the place as an opportunity to seek answers beyond the most explored socio-cultural and economic and historical contexts. Keeping the utmost value for the insight that these contexts give, I was curious about mapping traffic, garbage, products sold, feelings, and experiences of the people who belong to the place and what it means to them. Therefore, this opportunity has been exploited to acquire knowledge about architecture and spaces, the hawkers and their working schedules, their feelings and food habits and opinions about the place. Moreover an interview was conducted to understand the relationship which people share with the space and environment and how any type of change affects them. Quite interestingly, documenting the change in the colours and temperature in form of the visuals as well as seeking answers to details about how Bhadra Fort and other buildings are protected and managed, the governance rules, to observing how the shops and their designs change as the price rates change, several mediums were explored to express the progress which took place in the inquiry.

 An attempt has been made to capture how the place changes over a period of time and recorded in form of visuals. The change could be due to varied reasons such as ongoing festivals, change of the time lapse over different days. 

After a close observation of the entire area, Bhadra Fort vicinity has been chosen to explore details.

Historical Outline of Teen Darwaza

Teen Darwaza was constructed in 141 A.D. by Sultan Ahmed Shah the founder of Ahmedabad. It has three long arched gates. (A gate in called a ‘Darwaza’, in Hindi language). It was built with an objective to provide for an entrance to Bhadra Fort, which rests exactly adjacent to the gates. It is one of the oldest gates in Ahmedabad and a representative of the beauty of Islamic Architecture. A tree of life has been drawn at the central window and five palm trees are put covered with snakes. Above the arches of the gates rests the windows which are carved.

Teen Darwaza is commonly perceived to be a riot prone place due to the religious diversity and it faced one of the most violent incidents in the year 1969 which had taken 560 lives in the city.

History serves as a function of time. A few decades back it was a place which witnessed a larger economical turn over with a stock trade market which is closed now, as well as a few financially established business men having shifted after the riots.

It is one of the oldest monuments in Ahmedabad.

Architecture and Design

Ahmedabad has a pluralistic society with a history of urbanization and a tremendous religious, geographic, ethnic, climatic and linguistic diversity.  Architecture, therefore, has multiple and manifold manifestations resulting in multi-layered built environments; through classic examples and display of rich heritage of vernacular tradition in buildings.

Teen Darwaza, Ranino Haziro, Jamma Masjid and Bhadra Fort are examples of Architecture at its best. Apart from the historical Monuments are the houses which are built overlooking the roads. A house form is a reflection of the members of the society and a representation of their identity. In addition to the cultural forces, the house form is affected by environmental constraints such as physical and climatic conditions, social and psychological needs, belief systems and symbolic meanings. Thus, due to the large number of constants involved, its design evolves through the gradual process of assimilation and a set of accepted choices which result in a type of the house form which reflects the communities’ world view. The houses located nearby Teen Darwaza represent architectural designs from of the olden times with wooden windows covered by and large in blue or green. Because Teen Darwaza has always been a place which has had several markets which include food, clothes and utensils, most of the houses have been built such that the shops are rested on the ground floor, thus serving the purpose of both living as well as a means of working space. The usage of place has been very tight and it seems almost every space available of the land has been exploited to its fullest to build such houses. The vicinity no more has any scope for future houses or new buildings!!

A few modern buildings are also seen nearby the Bhadra fort where a complex is full of shops and Bank of India. Overlooking the complex is Prema bhai hall which was created under The Gujarat Vidhya Sabha Trust. Prema bhai Hall inspite of being one of the most versatile designs is out of business today. One of the constraints it faces is the shortage of parking spaces. The area is full of traffic and calls for a proper planning. Bhadrakali temple is beautifully decorated on all weekdays and Goddess’ structure, which has been built in black stone in dressed in a new and colourful Saree every day. The Sarees come as offerings from the worshippers and every Saree worn once would not be repeated as a dressing. The used clothes are sent to the Trust which looks after the Temple and subsequently send to needy women.

Jamma Masjid during the evening prayer

Culture

Culture is commonly believed to be sharing the set values, beliefs, customs, and ritual practices that are subject to change in time and space by a group of people or a community. It primarily includes arts, languages, artefacts, and the relationships of people with one and another. A community evolves from the act of living together under the umbrella of the common culture, made up of people who share ideas and live together in a mutual relationship. The area of Teen Darwaza shares a culture of mutual respect by and large. Though we ended up observing a few disagreements over the usage of space by the hawkers, a place as huge as it is, with the amount of diversity and the activity which takes place in the market, it is best concluded to be in harmony with the environment. In the working community the hawkers spoke how they shared the spaces and never took anyone else’s place. That there was no body which took care of their interests as they look after each other’s interests. The place is ever changing in its form as it holds a custom that with the commencement of any new festival the designs would change and new accessories will be let out. Quite interestingly the forms of the products would evolve year after year. For Dipawali, the festival of lights, the Diya’s were very different last year compared to this year’s work. An interesting insight was derived as how an artist did not have to be an established and well known professional at all times to communicate such monumental changes which come about gradually. Meera ben, the lady who sold Diya’s shared in her interview that she would keep the old designs before her and re-look at them such that she creates something completely new. 

Women wear Saree or Salwar Kameez and men, formals or kurta’s and pants. The dress code is very similar to what people wear generally in the city. Young women wear heavy oxidised or silver jewellery.

A Toran seller wearing light jewellery

People share a meal nearby Bhadra Fort

Two women share the evening tea while they talk

Food

Teen Darwaza offers a huge amount of variety in food. In order to capture the place through all our senses.

We had the opportunity to taste the food served every day. The place serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. Bhatiyar Gali is located a little ahead, on the left had side of the traffic island. It sells raw meat as well as cooked food. Outside Bhatiyar Gali are a few outlets which sell baked cookies. Husain Bakery is very well known for the same. Besides, a lot of hawkers sell the flavoured cookies as well.

Beside Bhatiyar Gali are a few shops which feed a free meal to the needy at every ten rupees which is donated by the visitor or a tourist. It is open throughout the day and a lot of people are found seated outside the shops, waiting to get fed.  Walking a little ahead towards the Teen Darwaza gate, a few hawkers sell flavoured Faluda (like sweet noodles).

A little ahead of Jamma Masjid, Walking towards Manek Chowk is a very famous sweet shop called Kandoi. Outside Jamma Masjid we find that there are a few Hawkers which sell tea and vegetarian dishes like Aloo Chat and Bhel.

Outside Bhadrakali temple (Bhadra Fort), there are several hawkers who serve Pulav with Dal and bread Pakoda. The Manek Chowk area located near Ranino Haziro (Queen’s Tomb) unfolds in the night into a food market which is very well known for the variety it offers. Pav Bhaji, Sandwiches as well as Chinese and different types of chats are a few delicacies. In the evening a few egg stalls are noticed nearby Bhatiyar Gali and Manek Chowk.

Girish Coldrinks is one of the most well-known and oldest cold drink sellers at Teen Darwaza. Moreover a lot of Lorries selling lemonade and flavoured Soda are seen, evenly distributed throughout the entire stretch of Teen Darwaza. A few fresh juice sellers sell seasonal juices.

A collage made out of the photographs I have taken of the food being sold at the Bhadra Fort

Stories which surround the place:

It is believed that the rivers carry the tales of the city! Ahmadabad’s rivers too carry some tales!

Ahmed Shah, the founder of the city decided to build it because as he passed by the area on his horse he saw an incident which inspired him to build a city. He witnessed a rabbit being chased by a dog. The rabbit retaliated for self defence and saved its own life. Ahmed Shah is believed to create a city because he was awed by the rabbit’s courage. He expected the people to have the same qualities.

About Teen Darwaza it has been said that the great Mughal emperor Jahangir used to go there along with his beloved wife Noorjahan, to take a look at the procession that started from this grand gateway and went nonstop till Jama Masjid. 

One of the hawkers, while we interviewed him also related his own story of how he was asked to shift to the new part of the city after which how incurred a financial loss such that he had to return to the same place.

A story underlying the Bhadra fort also relates to how Mataji came to see the king, Ahmed Shah and because the king could not believe that Mataji had come to see him, he refused to join the guards till the gate. Unable to convince the king to come to greet Mataji the guards had sacrificed their lives then and there in the king’s court. Mataji had remained there waiting nearby the gate as she learnt about the loyalty of the guards. The story is a myth associated with the reason behind the fort and the temple sharing almost the same wall. From then it is believe that the Goddess’ (Mataji) temple rests beside the Fort.

Design

Design is generally perceived to be a work of drawing done on paper. However, it is a problem solving process which that, design refers too. During the study I observed that though the people working there did not study design; they innately applied some of the principles in their work. 

The way in which they arranged their products to communicate its utility or come up with the new look for their product the very next year keeping in mind the old one gives an insight to how think and bring out solutions.

At Bhatiyar Gali, a lot of waste was discarded such that the stray animals could feed themselves and at the same time, the waste could be gotten rid with.

The shop which feeds the needy is also though provoking as it becomes a place where the ones who want to donate could do their bit without having to look for the people they want an access to.

Moreover during our conversation with the Toran and decorated pot sellers, we learnt that they re-designed the same products to suit the needs of two different festivals which are Janmastami and Navratri. This way they could sell the products they haven’t been able to sell in Janmastami, which takes place before Navratri.

Looking at the applicability of design in terms of space and environment, the places have been mutually distributed keeping in mind the religious, cultural and social differences. Outside Bhadrakali temple, only the vegetarian food sellers will be found whereas outside Bhatiyar Gali we will come across as few egg sellers. 

The prices would also change according to the place where the product is being sold. Having a conversation with hawkers and the shop owners who sold the same product, they explained that they had set the prices with the mutual understanding that the shop owner was bound to charge a little higher than the hawker.

The pots which are re-designed by the workers using cloth

Earthen pots lie outside the temple nearby the tree.

Space and Environment

Teen Darwaza today has hardly any area which remains vacant. Considering it to be an expanse within which the market runs I was curious about how people in such an environment perceive space and what could be their relationship with the vicinity. And further ahead how the cultural, political, social and economic diversity affects and builds their mindsets.

Though factually speaking Teen Darwaza is a public space, however it is almost a home for people who earn their living from the market. I have attempted to map the psychological perception of a space, understanding that much has been already done about the application of space is scientific and mathematical and architectural contexts.

By a psychological space we mean the perception of one’s surrounding in context with the survival as well as in individual’s idea of personal space. Psychologists who analyse a perception of the space work on how recognition of an objects physical appearance and its utility is perceived by people.

A personal space is generally defined as the region that affects an individual’s psychology in terms of being their own domain and one gets discomforted when anyone else enters that area.

A person's comfort is is highly variable and difficult to measure accurately.  Estimated studies reveal that it is at about 24.5 inches (60 centimeters) on either side, 27.5 inches (70 centimeters) in front, and 15.75 inches (40 centimeters), behind for an average westerner.

An environment would mean the surrounding of an object.  The analysis refers to natural, built and social environment.

The relationships between space and environment is transient and always under constant change. Infact both are interdependent. Any kind of change in the space would affect the environment and vice versa. People by and large share a very close association with spaces due to the environment they live in and the utility or the experience that place provides to them. Therefore certain places appeal and mean more to us than the others. A worthwhile insight was gained during the observation and dialogue with the hawkers.

I was curious to know about what the place means to them because it would never mean the same to a person conducting the study or a tourist. 

To hawkers it is the place which they work at day in and day out. Some of them have spent decades in the vicinity and as I realised that minding the gap between what I sought as an outsider was a challenging task and mapping the same or writing about it, more so. To have a more informed idea about people’s thoughts, opinions and experiences, the hawkers were interviewed within the vicinity of Bhadra Fort.

Two people not affecting each other’s personal space                       

  

What happens when personal space is affected

Bhadra Fort is a heritage monument around which there are a huge number of hawkers who earn their living. During our several visits we observed that the people to whom this place is almost a home, are hardly talked with when a study is done to associate History,  Socio-cultural and economic contexts. Ironically they are the ones who are the most prominent part of the whole set-up. In fact our conversations made us realise that any of the most researched contexts including the ones mentioned above are only incomplete without knowing about their experiences and observations. An attempt has been made to go beyond the factual study and probe into their lives very subtly through our questions. 

After a few visits we sat down to bring our questions in black and white such that the answers which we receive give us an insight about what it is to belong to the space and the relationship which they share with each other and the environment.

                                                                                                                                                              Comment on Space and People’s relationships with the environment

In this study I learnt that our primary relationship with the space comes from the experiences we have had being in the same area. As a result of which we tend to associate our feeling with the space such that we almost feel that we own it in some way. Teen Darwaza is also one such space which has been a home for the hawkers.

Change being the only constant, even if the place remains static, its environment changes, due to external factors which could be social, cultural, economic and political in nature. The environment would also be subject to change due to weather conditions or by introduction of people from other spaces that bring in a culture of their own. When such a change takes place a lot of people who are used to the same place find it difficult to cope with the change and look for old associations.

• It was inferred that there was no governing body as such. The entire place as far as spaces and their utility is concerned, it runs on mutual trust.

• The hawkers also said that, there has never been an instance, by and large that the space has been taken over by the other entities.

• A worthwhile insight was that inspite the diversity; people had built their own comfort areas in what seems to us like a place which is filled with sound and is almost always bustling in action.

• After having a conversation with Akbar bhai we realised that a lot of hawkers were asked to evacuate the place in the year 2002, after the earthquake. As a result of which they had to go through an emotional uplift as the space that they used meant like a home to them. They earned their living and their families were dependent on the business. After being relocated some of the hawkers made a decision to come back to the vicinity of Bhadra fort, and just like Akbar Bhai a lot of them had lost their old spaces which they had used.

• The people who had spent a lot of years in the same area by and large did not want to shift, however the hawkers who wanted to make more profit or who had lost an older place in the same area where they made more money, were willing to leave if incentives were given to them.

• Looking at history for cues we find that the place has gone through a massive economic change as well established businessmen had shifted after the riots, thus affecting the space and environment.

• When asked whether they pay any ‘hafta’ or protection money in return for the place they use, the hawkers refused, however we noticed that the people who are supposed to guard the interests took the products they sold for free from their lorry.

I realised that the place may actually be very different from what it is commonly believed to be. People often associate it with the history of riots. However after having talked with people and with the careful observation, I feel that it is much more in harmony with the space and environment then commonly believed.

Art, Design and Environment have interdependent associations with the place. I observed that people share a very close relationship with a place. When the change takes place it affects people adversely as they still look for old associations. Much needs to be done to plan a place like Teen Darwaza such that the issues like excess traffic and pollution is taken care of. In order to run Prema bhai hall a separate amount of traffic planning should be designed and executed. Studies which take the feelings, experiences and thoughts of the people who stay in a certain place must be conducted and understood to be of equal grounds with the factual, mathematical and scientific researches. Infact any study which concludes without having taken an open minded communicative experience would sound incomplete in today’s context when environment is changes like never before. For an instance when the workers were relocated in the year 2002, their interest may be taken in mind, but their opinions were not heard and thus, people hawkers like Akbar bhai struggle even today to earn their living. Speaking from a humanitarian point of view neither are such instances conceived nor recorded to later. On a concluding note, I feel communication is required at all levels and in all studies, which include the prospect of affecting many lives.