The character of Anarkali has always fascinated and haunted me as a thinker and observer... I have been intrigued about it not only because of my interest in south asian history, but also because this saga brings strong feeling of suspense, mystery, awe and of course passionate romance. The story of Anarkali is, originally, a traditional legend in south asian subcontinent which has travelled verbally from generation to generation.
Through this opportunity to be part of the project “Anar Kali is Alive”, my quest to find Anarkali started with literally Anar ka phool (pomegranate blossom) which was the given nickname of a legendary courtesan who was said to be the love interest of the 16th century Mughal prince Salim, who later became the Emperor Jahangir.
Not knowing if Anarkali was a real person or is she just a fragment of imagination derived from the history, this question is not easy to answer because even though Anarkali has been the subject of a number of Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi books, plays and films over the years but there is no historical evidence of Anarkali's existence and the authenticity of her story is contested among academics.
It is incredible though that even after hundreds of years, Anarkali remains alive not just in myths and mystery but in the living history of Lahore with Anarkali Bazar which is one of the oldest surviving markets in South Asia, dating back at least 200 years and It will never allow us to set aside the character of Anarkali summarily.
The work started developing organically from my consecutive photography walks in Anarkali bazar with fellow artists / researchers and after few constant visits It took the direction of compiling a video piece. I started observing and videotaping female mannequins some of which were on window displays of most fabric shops, but most of them were just installed in the streets and footpaths by the street hawkers of the market. The work is mocking proclamation on the myth of Anarkali in current times, wondering if she really ever existed or still is alive?!.
As the secret of Anarkali may never be revealed, through these silhouettes of fabric on plastic made mannequins, the work scratches various layers of gender identity in socio-cultural context and south asian history.
Idea/Research for AnarKali Intervention
In the southern part of Lahore's old city there is a beautiful little mausoleum. Originally made as a white stone building with eight corner turrets, inside of which is a pure marble grave which is very finely and elegantly carved. The legend is that this is the final resting place of Anarkali, a courtesan girl who was ironically 'chased out of town' and is the tragic heroin of perhaps the most spectacular romance in history. Although the available historical facts about the character as well as the tomb are vague and confusing, the size and the grandeur of the burial chamber and the presence of a grave inside it vividly suggest that the deceased person was of great significance.
Noor Ahmed Chishti, in his book Tehqiqaat-i-Chishtia (1860), has provided some details about the grandeur of the building and the episode of Anarkali, based on his personal observations as well as traditional tales. He writes, “Anarkali was a beautiful and a favourite concubine of Akbar the Great and her real name was Nadira Begum or Sharf-un-Nissa. Akbar’s inordinate love for her made his other two ladies jealous and hostile towards Anarkali. Now, some say that Akbar was on a visit to Deccan when Anarkali fell ill and died and the other two concubines committed suicide to avoid the emperor’s wrath. When the emperor came back he ordered to create this grand tomb.” Chishti also relates: “I saw the marble grave that has 99 names of Allah inscribed on it, and the name Sultan Saleem Akbar was written on the head side.”
If we start our search for Anarkali from her tomb we will see that along with the 99 names of Allah and two dates corresponding to 1599 and 1615 AD there is carved in the inscription:
Ta qayamat shukr goyam kard gar khwish ra
Ah! gar man baz beenam rui yar khwish ra
“Ah ! If could I behold the face of my beloved once more;
I would give thanks unto my God
Unto the day of resurrection”
Majnun Salim Akbar (Totally Smitten Salim Akbar)
The tomb has dreadful history, starting with being occupied during the time of Sikh Empire to further being desecrated by its conversion into the private residence of an army solider. During the British Raj it further transformed into clerical offices in 1847 before repurposing the tomb into a Church in 1851. In 1891, the church congregation was relocated, and the tomb was repurposed as the Punjab Record Office. The building is today covered in whitewashing, has a very limited access to general public as it is currently used as the Punjab Archives and it exists under the secretariate offices.
For the intervention of “AnarKali is Alive” project, I wanted my abstract representation of existence of Anarkali using narrative of AnarKali bazar itself, which I recorded with a particular gaze of looking into feminine mannequins. I compiled the footage with a live classical sound piece sung by renowned classical singer and kathak dancer bina jawad. The poetry of the sound piece is taken from by south asia’s popular sufi bullay shah’s writing. The beginning verse starts with “Ghunghat ohley na lukk sajna , Main mushtaq deedar de haan”, which means “Hide not behind the veil my love, I long to have a glimpse of you.”. Through the layering of poetry, sound and visual i tried to weave the narrative of finding AnarKali in current times in Lahore. The video piece was to be projected on the dome of the mausoleum. I imagined that the visuals of mannequins from Anarkali bazar , mostly dusted and hewed in vague shapes and sizes covered under the silhouette of fabric would bring many collective chronicles on one single surface. For this purpose, I with my curator Sehr Jalil visited the Punjab Archives Department and met concerned government officials to take permission to execute my idea. The application was under review and I am yet waiting to hear back from them so that I hopefully can do this Intervention someday.
