Lucknow: City of Illusion.The Rumi Darwaza gateway to the Bara Imambara Bara Imambara is an imambara complex built by Asaf-ud-daulah, Nawab of Lucknow, in 1784. It is also called the Asafi Imambara. Bara means big, and the term Imambara complex in Lucknow, the once opulent and mysterious city in northern India that the British reduced to rubble following the Revolt of 1857. From Lucknow City of Illusion, edited by Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, Munich, Prestel, 2006, [pounds sterling]50, a scholarly survey of the city's lost architectural wonders beautifully illustrated by historic photographs from the Alkazi Collection of Photography. From its establishment in 1775 until its destruction, the Awadh court at Lucknow was an oasis of richesse and refinement, spawning a distinctive 'nawabi' style of architecture that fused Oriental motifs with colonial grandeur. Immortalised here in fading albumen al·bu·men n. 1. The white of an egg, which consists mainly of albumin dissolved in water. 2. Albumin. albumen the white of the egg; typically comprising 60% of a bird egg. prints, the pomp POMP n. A drug used in cancer chemotherapy and composed of purinethol (6-mercaptopurine), Oncovin (vincristine sulfate), methotrexate, and prednisone. of palaces, mosques and pleasure gardens built by successive Shia nawabs is given sad prescience pre·science n. Knowledge of actions or events before they occur; foresight. prescience Noun Formal knowledge of events before they happen [Latin praescire to know beforehand] by the knowledge of what was to follow. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion