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ABSTRACT
The ambitious Kashi Vishvanath Corridor in Varanasi (India) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2019. Set to turn the site into a ‘world-class’ pilgrimage destination, the project entails the construction of a monumental path that connects the Ganges river to the city’s main Hindu temple. In the middle of the area under ‘beautification’, stands the Gyanvapi mosque – a longstanding target of Hindu nationalist campaigns to ‘liberate’ supposedly originally Hindu places of worship from Muslim presence. By combining ethnographic material collected through longitudinal research with a critical analysis of local Hindi newspapers, I trace the genesis of the Corridor as a ‘heritage project’. I suggest that, through it, a new heritage regime is being put forward to suit, and provide evidence for, current Hindu nationalist projections of India as a Hindu nation. However, I also argue that this regime is not just the result of a top-down agenda, but originates from a counter-intuitive process: bottom-up mobilisations of heritage by residents (who were eventually evicted) seem to have informed, if not provoked, subsequent official narratives and the branding of the Corridor as heritage.
Acknowledgments
I owe my commitment to research around the Kashi Vishvanath temple and Gyanvapi mosque compound to Kedarnath Vyas. It was through getting to know his life world that I began to discover (and became beached in) this area of the city, almost a decade ago. This article is dedicated to his memory. I am deeply grateful to residents and shopkeepers of the pakka mohalla for sharing views about their neighbourhood and special thanks go to the Vyas family, Abdul Batin Nomani, Madan and his family, Mani, Padamji, Mr Yasin and Karim for welcoming my sometimes intrusive presence time and again. Initial thoughts that led to the arguments advanced in this article were discussed during online seminars hosted by the South Asia Institute and the Centre for Transcultural Studies at the Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies in Heidelberg. I wish to thank the colleagues and students who took part in those events and whose questions and remarks provided valuable stimulus for refining my arguments. In particular, I thank Ute Hüsken and Christiane Brosius for inviting me to discuss my ongoing research at several venues and my two anonymous reviewers for critical suggestions and encouragement. Conversations with Jörg Gengnagel, Kathinka Frøystad, Philippa Williams, Cristiana Zara, Malavika Kasturi, Natalia Bloch and Rebecca Sauer were inspirational at several stages during the writing of this article. Finally, I am deeply grateful to Geoff Ainsworth, for editorial support and much more throughout this research. Any errors or omissions are of course my own.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. https://www.narendramodi.in/kashi-vikas-yatra, accessed 18 May 2021.
2. Inhabitants of the neighbourhood had diverse caste background and included Brahmans, Baniyas, Khatris and families from so-called ‘Other Backward Castes’. A few Dalit and other lower caste families also lived in the neighbourhood, in a small basti (settlement) next to the cremation ground.
3. A visual overview of the Corridor is found in a video tweeted by Modi on the inauguration day and available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/watch-pm-modis-dream-project-kashi-vishwanath-corridor-plan/videoshow/68381158.cms, accessed 15 March 2020. More initiatives framed within the journey to development for the city are advertised here: https://www.narendramodi.in/kashi-vikas-yatra#VikasYatra. On Modi’s journey to become a vikas purush, or development man, see Kaur (Citation2015).
4. For a discussion of the controversial history of the two shrines and the available evidence see Lazzaretti Citation2021b.
5. Hindutva means Hinduness; the term was firstly used by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in Hindutva: Who Is a Hindu? (1923), in which India was defined as the land of the Hindus and Indian culture identified with ‘Hindu values’. The concept and ideology became the core of Hindu nationalism – an umbrella term that includes several militant groups and political forces, including Modi’s BJP.
6. The movement for the ‘liberation’ of the Babri mosque, allegedly located at the birth place of the Hindu god Ram, had been orchestrated since the 1980s by Hindu nationalist forces, including BJP politicians. The demolition of the mosque sparked riots in several South Asian cities, during which some 2000 people were killed, the majority of whom were Muslims.
7. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/taj-mahal-court-petition-shiva-temple-1029352-2017-08-12, last accessed 15 March 2020.
8. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/The-verdict-on-Ayodhya-a-historians-perspective/article15523346.ece, accessed 04March 2021.
9. For an extensive report on the so-called Ayodhya verdict see https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/peace-and-justice/article29938535.ece, accessed 17 November 2020. As for Banaras, a 1991 lawsuit asking for the removal of the mosque was reopened in early 2020 and is ongoing: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/kvt-gyanvapi-mosque-dispute-case-next-hearing-on- oct-3/articleshow/78374164.cms, accessed 15 March 2021.
10. The video and transcript of the speech is available at https://www.narendramodi.in/hi/text-of-pm-s-speech-at-kashi-vishwanath-temple-in-varanasi-uttar-pradesh–544171.
11. Some commentators also made the connection: https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/news/is-the-bjp-planning-an-ayodha-2-in- varanasi-gyanvapi-masjid-stands-in-way-of-connecting-kashi-vishwanath-with-ganga-ghats; and http://twocircles.net/ 2018mar03/421341.html, both accessed 5 March 2021.
12. Some of this history is discussed in Lazzaretti Citation2021a.
13. An overview of studies of heritage in urban regeneration is found in De Cesari and Dimova (Citation2019) and Meskell (Citation2019).
14. An example is the study by Bloch (Citation2016) of the effects of heritagisation on Hampi in South India. There, inhabitants who were depicted as a threat to material heritage and evicted from the UNESCO World Heritage Site later adopted, more or less successfully, the register of heritage imposed on them.
15. Titles in Hindi newspapers are reported in my translation.
17. Monuments in India are legal entities, defined by two pieces of legislation: The Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904 and The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958.
18. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/5-areas-identified-for-varanasikyoto-deal/article6785713.ece, accessed 2 March 2021.
19. http://updharmarthkarya.in/booking/pdf/1983UP29.pdf, accessed 7 July 2018.
20. https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-kashi-vishwanath-temple-to-be-expanded-1144816, last accessed 14 September 2020; [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/Four-temple-domes-on-Kashi-Vishwanath-Temple-premises-to-get-gold-plating/articleshow/12914448.cms#:~:text=The%20Tarkeshwar%20Mahadev%20and%20Rani,Singh%20of%20Punjab%20in%201835, accessed 14 September 2020]
21. Posters supporting his campaign and showing images of the temple’s golden tower appeared in the streets of the city in 2016. Interviews with Prakash are found in: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/sp-leader-writes-to-modi-declare-kashi-vishwanath-national-heritage/; and in the paper local edition of the Times of India, 8 February 2015, p. 6.
22. Prakash had also campaigned in 2006 when the KVTT had portions of the temple repainted with a colour that, according to him, spoilt its antiquity and ‘heritage look’. See: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/attempt-to-spoil-heritage-look-of-kashi-temple/story-4ZyBuPASrbZmARDKFgghAO.html, last accessed on 8 February 2021.
23. On Adityanath’s political and criminal background, see Bouillier (Citation2020).
24. For example: https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/state/uttar-pradesh/allahabad/kashi-vishwanath-temple-matter/articleshow/58766680.cms; https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/state/uttar-pradesh/varansi/development-projects-passed-by-temple-council- for-kashi-vishwanath-mandir/articleshow/62225068.cms; https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/story-rejuvenation- of-several-roads-on-the-excavation-of-vishwanath-temple-1706567.html; https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/ story-700-meter-two-storey-corridor-will-be-built-for-devotees-in-kashi-vishwanath-temple-1749897.html; https://www.amarujala.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/preparation-going-fast-for-ganga-darshan-from-kashi-vishwnath-temple, accessed 05 March 2021.
25. Other names included ‘Ganga-Darshan Pathway’, ‘Baba Darbar’ and ‘Corridor’.
26. For example, see https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/state/uttar-pradesh/allahabad/protest-against-extension-of-kashi-vishvanath/articleshow/58,699,649.cms, accessed 2 March 2021.
27. https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/story-vishwanath-street-shoppers-take-out-the-procession-1721298.html, accessed 2 March 2021.
28. https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/story-vishwanath-temple-shopkeepers-threatened-self-denial-1753838.html, accessed 2 March 2021.
29. A first report about the attitudes of the residents appeared in: ‘A blatant attempt to erase the history of Kashi in the name of development beautification’, Sanmarg [paper edition] 6 February 2018, p. 3.
30. https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/story-vda-secretary-also-responsible-for-ceo-of-viswanath-temple-1798761.html, accessed 5 March 2021.
31. https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/story-no-plans-to-shake-houses-vishal-singh-1812218.html, accessed 05 March 2021.
32. On the Kashikhanda and its contemporary uses, see Gengnagel 2005 and Reference removed for peer-review.
33. https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/story-vishwanath-temple-corridor-houses-will-be-drone-survey-1793050.html, accessed 5 March 2021.
34. [https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/story-ganga-pathway-protested-1809454.html, accessed 5 March 2021.
35. https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/story-vishwanath-temple-corridor-houses-will-be-drone-survey-1793050.html, accessed 5 March 2021.
36. ‘Drone survey to protect the existence of the temple’, Sanmarg [paper edition], 18 February 2018, p. 3.
37. [https://www.patrika.com/varanasi-news/kashi-citizen-will-protest-to-unesco-for-save-banaras-heritage-1-2388254/], accessed 05 March 2021.
38. ‘The Mughals demolished temples, now the government is doing it’, Amar Ujala [paper edition], 4 April 2018, p. 5; ‘Nobody becomes Hindu by wearing saffron’, Amar Ujala [paper edition], 5 April 2018, p. 6; ‘The pilgrimage to save Kashi and temples began from Assi sangam’, Amar Ujala [paper edition], 17 May 2018, p. 9.
39. ‘Clash between giants at DBSS meeting’, Amar Ujala [paper edition], 19 April 2018, p. 6; and ‘The giants came to save heritage and sat fighting’, Jagran [paper edition], 19 April 2018.
40. My emphasis. The Act can be accessed here: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/12271/1/31of2018.pdf, last accessed, 5 March 2020.
41. ‘The name could be Vishvanath Heritage Zone’, Amar Ujala [paper edition], 6 March 2019, p. 2.
42. For example, [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/lost-and-found-varanasi-temple-route-gets-longer/articleshow/ 66,836,682.cms], accessed 9 March 2021; ‘Temple built during Gupta period uncovered’, ‘The culture of Banaras will be visible in the Corridor’ and ‘All deities reverted in one place’, Hindustan [paper edition] 1 December 2018, p. 6; ‘New Shiv ling found in Lahori Tola’, Hindustan [paper edition], 2 December 2018, p. 3.
43. ‘Temples found are not older than Vishvanath’, Amar Ujala [paper edition] 3 December 2018, p. 2. ‘Naming of temples arbitrary’, Amar Ujala [paper edition] 3 February 2019, p. 2.
44. For example, ‘Arrange for worship at the emerged temples in the Corridor’, Amar Ujala [paper edition] 9 February 2019, p. 2; ‘Ancient images of Radha–Krishna found locked inside house, Amar Ujala [paper edition] 16 February 2019; ‘Kashi’s grandeur will increase from the Corridor’, Amar Ujala [paper edition] 6 March 2019, p. 2. See also: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/soon-a-virtual-tour-of-60-ancient-kashi-temples-hidden-for-a-long-time/story-HM6xs4DR6LFhadLB7VIFvM.html; and https://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2020/7/29/Revival-of-the-Lost-Glory-.html, accessed 5 March 2021.
45. On donation campaigns for the Ram temple in Ayodhya see: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/lucknow-news/rs-2-100-crores-raised-for-ram-temple-so-far-trust-101614561980757.html. On the Corridor project government funding see, for instance, https://www.nbmcw.com/news/up-floating-tender-for-750-cr-kashi-corridor.html.
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Vera Lazzaretti
Vera Lazzaretti is a DAAD PRIME fellow and researcher at the South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, currently working on alignments and collusions of heritage and security in urban South Asia. She previously spent a period at the University of Oslo as a member of the Indian Cosmopolitan Alternatives project funded by the Research Council of Norway and before that she was teaching assistant and post-doctoral fellow at the University of Milan. Her research interests include the anthropology of space and place, religion and politics in South Asia, contested heritage, securitisation and policing, inter-religious violence, religious offence, urban everyday life, religious landscapes, Hindu nationalism, ethnography and South Asian cartography.