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Travel: The Citadel
(The Statesman (India) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)The castles and fortresses of Great Britain cast their spell on Aditi Chatterjee, as do some Indian stately aristocratic homes Visiting England was like a cherished dream come true. Great Britain held the magic of Tudor houses, Cotswold cottages, great Gothic and pre-Gothic cathedrals, Stonehenge. There was also the pleasure of roaming around London, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath and many other places. The thrill of exploring the mysteries of Wales and Scotland, royal homes and castles of aristocrats I had read about for years added to the thrill of the trip. As I reflected on my experiences, I wanted to write on citadels and castles and include Indian stately aristocratic homes as well. Buckingham Palace is probably the most famous royal palace in the world. Standing on top of a monument opposite it, one gets a clear view of the Changing of the Guards, a spectacular ceremony. Buckingham Palace is the residence of Queen Elizabeth II and her family. The first castle I visited in England was the Tower of London: an amazing castle, more of a fortress actually. Having heard and read so much about the Tower of London, it was exciting to see all its segments: White Tower, Bloody Tower, entrance drawbridge; the Beefeaters and renowned ravens. The Tower of London was intricate. We just kept going from one place to another inside it, the weaponry and armour collection and, last but most important, the Crown Jewels section. Ive seen the Kohinoor, I thought. Over the course of the next few years, I saw many British castles, including Caernarvon Castle in Wales, which had a special association with the Prince of Wales. It was probably here that King Edward I had a son and held him aloft to the public proclaiming him a bonny Prince of Wales, thereby linking Wales with England across the Marches.
Caernarvon Castle has a magnificent museum within. It is basically a fortified stronghold: most castles were; they were the ultimate citadels to protect the particular realm from invaders and marauders and also to provide shelter to the common folk inside their doors as and when necessary. These also served as maximum security prisons and strongholds to guard wealth. During my Christmas holidays, I saw Kimbolton Castle, a stately home near Cambridge, which, I believe, is where Katherine of Aragon spent her life after Henry VIII dissolved their marriage and married Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII, of course, needs no introduction in terms of gender relations. Kimbolton Castle was a school and a fete or exhibition was being held there that day. As we moved from one room to another and wandered around the grounds, it was interesting to note that the castle was set some distance within the surrounding gateway. Kimbolton town itself was a typical British town with a main high street leading up to the castle, with houses on either side. On a trip to Stratford, Warwick Castle became part of the agenda. It was undoubtedly the most forbidding one of all, with many towers and ghostly passages connecting many dark rooms. Blenheim Place, not a castle by name, was the main one nearest to us, located in Woodstock. It is the official residence of the Duke of Marlborough, and one of its most illustrious sons was Winston Churchill, one-time Prime Minister of Britain.
Blenheim Place, like many other stately homes in England today, has parts devoted to tourist attractions, a museum or two, a toy train ride and other forms of entertainment. As one moves from room to room, beautiful furnishing, carpets, tapestries, royal beds and portraits come to life. Two striking ones are of Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough, with her husband and two sons: the heir and the spare, and one of Louis XIV of France. A special section features Winston Churchill. Blenheim Palace was Queen Annes manner of thanking her loyal Army Commander, John Churchill. Leeds Castle in Kent was another interesting palace, though rather tame after the others. However, nothing can beat Edinburgh Castle for the most amazing view of the entire city and neighbourhood. It is situated on a geomorphic formation known as a crag-and-tail with the Castle at the peak of the crag and the Royal Mile or main thoroughfare tracing its way down to the bottom of the tail. It culminates in Holyrood House, where Mary, Queen of Scots lived for many years before her execution during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. That was about the stately homes of the United Kingdom. Lets now take a look at some of our own castles and stately homes. The first citadel that comes to mind is Amber Fort in Jaipur. Although I never rode on the carefully trained elephant lined up for the benefit of foreign and local tourists to pose for photographs, it was exhilarating to wind up a tortuous pathway up to the top and enter this famous fortress. It is partially a museum, with a splendid art collection, ornaments, furniture, arms and weaponry and it was interesting to get a glimpse of what conservation in India could be based on. Driving around Rajasthan in a DTDC coach, we passed many imposing castles along the way, mostly citadels perched in the higher regions on hilltops. We also saw the City Palace at Udaipur during a college fieldtrip. A few years back, I visited Maharashtra during the Puja holidays. My cousins and I drove around the countryside, using Aurangabad as base and saw Daulatabad Fort, probably conceived of by Muhammad bin Tughlaq initially and subsequently strengthened by successive rulers and emperors, no doubt to guard the Deccan territory of whichever ruler occupied it.
While we did not go right up to the top of the winding steps leading from the impenetrable wooden nail-studded doorway, we made it up to various sections on different planes and levels with archways and doorways leading up to the middle of the structure. There is a magnificent minaret within the fort and a collection of canons down below near the entrance gates. The British built Fort William to protect Kolkata, and various other forts in the leading cities of Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. The Red Fort in Delhi has a special association for all Indians, for it is from the ramparts of this fort that the countrys head addresses the nation on important occasions. The Red Fort is renowned for its intricate architectural icons, with the Diwan-i-Khas, the Diwan-i-Am and the Moti Masjid within its red ramparts. On a more local level, we have plenty of stately homes right here in West Bengal, homes and citadels of erstwhile kings, princes, zamindars and gentry folk. Jorasanko Rajbati and Sovabazar Rajbati are great examples of fortified urban stately homes. They follow the same layout: a palatial residence with a courtyard lined by passageways with arches, windows and erstwhile balconies on all sides, with a secret entrance. Today Jorasanko houses part of Rabindra Bharati University. Several stately homes of North Kolkata resemble this plan. Bansberia in Hooghly district is renowned for being the location of the Hangseshwari Temple; it also has a ruined stately home that probably belonged to a family named Deb Roy. A few years ago, we discovered the remnants of another stately home at Halisahar: the facade with its beautiful pillared verandahs and side wings still stand proudly, though the inner area is dark, damp and largely a grassy mound. The National Library is in Alipore and all dedicated readers over the years know how many steps to climb and the cavernous nature of its interior. Was it a citadel for former Governor-Generals too?
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