Broken Monuments

The major religions have left monuments scattered all over India, a wonderland of ancient temples and royal tombs. Most are neglected and slowly disappearing, their structures often utilized for houses, shops and other functions. Many of the photographs in this series were taken in New Delhi, which was described over two centuries ago by British traveller William Franklin, as “covered with the crumbling remains of gardens, pavilions and burying places.” The title for this series was inadvertently offered by a taxi driver when the photographer explained that he didn’t want to see grand monuments like the Taj Mahal and was instead interested in neglected sites - an unusual request for a visitor to New Delhi. The driver suddenly understood his request exclaiming, “Ah! What you want to see is ‘broken’ monuments.