Gurmeet, SS; (2008) Caste/d space: A reinterpretation of the movement and architecture of Dashashwamedh Ghat, Varanasi, India. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

May 22nd 2004 marked a significant point in India's history, when it announced to the world, and its own 1.1 billion strong population, that it embraced all religions and castes equally. With a Sikh Prime Minister, a Muslim President and a foreign-born Roman Catholic President of the ruling party, India was displaying in one political moment its equality and love for all of its children, regardless of caste, colour, creed, or social background. India's claim to be being the worlds largest Secular state was seemingly, politically at least, confirmed with aplomb. This idyllic scene of 'Mother India'1 is a common ideology portrayed to the populous, but how does society itself react within this realm How is a Secular India, whereby people from different religious and caste backgrounds, practiced within physical space, and how do specific spaces allow for this The image portrayed is that of different people from different regions coming together, regardless of background, to form a united front. The Indian parliamentary and ceremonial hierarchy suggests one facet of this example. However, Secular India, like any country, is a fractured state. Space is divided into political regions and further into separate inter-cultural identities. With its vast population, it cannot be stated that the populous is distinguished as a mono-socio/economic entity. What was whole is still whole, but its surface is cracked to show differences, and texture which is faceted. Like any other country and region, but more so in India, social division occurs based upon wealth, education, geographical region, and of course, religion.2 Further, this stratification of society is amplified in India when one takes into account the highly political, yet antiquated, system of caste and class division within the dominant religious grouping the Hindus. The Caste system, as portrayed in myths and legends, and which forms the basis of Hindu ideology, still commands with and air of utter and unrelenting dominance within 21st century India. Centuries of colonialism, both political and now commercial, civil unrest, and the introduction of the nuclear age have done little to dilute the staunch hierarchy within the world's second most populous nation. This ordering device forms a patchwork throughout India, none more so than in the city of Varanasi in the eastern state of Uttar Pradesh. Commonly referred to as the 'Eternal' Varanasi, the city is claimed to be the oldest living city in existence. It finds mention in the epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata, which have been approximately dated to 4th century and 2nd century BC, and is a cultural epicentre for India in terms of its historical heritage, the Hindu and Buddhist religions, architecture, the arts, and thus predictably, international tourism. The city has been a centre of learning for over 2000 years, and it was at Sarnath approximately 10km north of Varanasil that Buddha first preached his message of enlightenment 25 centuries earlier. Thus, for the pious Buddhist and Hindu, this city has always been an important pilgrimage destination3, yet it holds further social significance in that it is deemed by Hindus as a 'holy' space.4 All are welcomed and embraced by the river, regardless of social standing or caste. Social space, and thus the space of Varanasi, is informed by the inhabitants and users of space, and space is therefore forever shifting as different bodies with differing narratives move through it.

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