A View of Historic Bara Imambara In Lucknow-India
Dr. Mazhar Naqvi
Imambara literally means residence for the Imam. The
word however stands for an assembly hall for observing Moharrum
ceremonies. It is primarily a north Indian institution that originated
in the 18th century, for buildings dedicated to Imams are known as Ashur
Khanas in South India.
Throughout the month of Muharram as well as on other occasions important to devotees of martyrs of karbala, assemblies (majlis) are held in the Imambars. On the occasion of the death anniversary of Hazrat Imam Hussain (R), the tale of Karbala is told, marsiah or elegies are recited, ritual mourning and matom (beating the breast as a sign of mourning) is done.
Imambaras also perform many other functions.
They serve as places for ritual mourning and worship, as literary
salons, as personal monuments, as family cemeteries, a secure means of
passing on wealth to future generations in any case, traders and
laborers might otherwise have had no place to make one another's
acquaintance. The imambaras and smaller buildings, as well as the homes
of believers, became centers of social networks.The development of the imambara as
an architectural form under the patronage of the Nawabi court and
courtiers provided a crucial meeting place for devotees of Imam.
Previously scattered and reticent, they could now come out in public to
commemorate the death of its Imams.
The
history records that Safdar Jung (1708-54) had constructed a house at
Delhi for holding majlises during Moharrum but the building was not
called Imambara. But when his grandson Asafuddaula, built an imposing building in Lucknow it instantly became famous as Imambara-i-Asafi. In the early 1800s, only the high notables had their own imambaras ,
whereas the middle notables held mourning ceremonies in their large
homes. In the 1820s, when Mrs. Meer Hasan Ali, a British lady who
married an Indian nobleman, lived in the capital, many more of the
wealthy had built imambaras.
They erected them on the public, male (mardanah )
side of the house, designing them as square buildings with cupola tops.
Their size depended on the wealth of the builder, and they often served
also as family mausoleums. Guests sat on a calico covering overlaying a
cotton carpet on the floor of the imambara . Its walls boasted
many mirrors, intended to multiply the candles and reflect the
brilliance of the chandeliers, and the notables competed in decorating
their imambaras with great splendor. Two ritual props graced the room, a stairway-like pulpit (minbar ) and a replica of the tomb (zarih or taziyah )
of the Imam Husayn in Karbala, both facing Mecca. The pulpit,
constructed of silver, ivory, ebony, or other fine materials, often
matched the cenotaph. The reciter of elegies sometimes sat, and
sometimes stood, on the steps of a pulpit covered with gold cloth or
broad cloth (green, if owned by a Sayyid). On each side of the cenotaph
were ranged banners of silk or with gold or silver embroidery and
fringes, hanging from staffs topped by crests with outspread hands whose
five fingers represented the "five pure souls": Muhammad, Fatimah,
‘Ali, Hasan, and Husain. At the base of the cenotaph the host arranged
objects that might have been used by the Imam, such as a fine sword and
belt, set with precious stones, a shield, bow and arrows, or a turban.
Believers
fashioned the cenotaphs from all sorts of materials, from pure silver.
to paper and bamboo, depending on the wealth of the owner. Different
styles of cenotaphs developed in Lucknow, Delhi, Calcutta, and
Hyderabad. In the Great Imambara stood fourteen tombs of pure silver,
one for each of the Twelve Imams, the Prophet, and Fatimah. The tomb
replicas designed for an imambaras or a private residence was
often made of ivory, ebony, sandalwood, or cedar. Mrs. Ali saw some
wrought in silver filigree, and admired one the nawab had made in
England of green glass with brass moldings. The inexpensive cenotaphs,
made in the bazaar from bamboo and colored materials, ran from two to
two hundred rupees in price. The laboring and lower middle classes set
these up in their homes during Muharram and carried them in street
processions. Since the lower-middle-class mourners could not afford to
build a separate Bimambara, they decorated the best room in their
dwelling as a substitute. ( Author is Heritage Management Expert with
deep interest in Islamic Studies.References available on request)
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