Shrine

This project grew out of an attempt to understand the urban landscape of my hometown, New Delhi, that I have returned to after 20 years. The city is filled with temples, mosques and tombs of all sorts and sizes that bear testament to its lengthy multicultural history. Aside from the larger formal places of worship, I noticed a secondary layer of smaller shrines that I became fascinated with. These sculptural "objects" are often located seemingly randomly in the middle of roads or sidewalks, at odds with the formal structure of the city, creating an interesting juxtaposition between the modern fast moving city and an ancient timeless belief system. Upon closer observation, I found that these shrines are an important part of people’s lives. A caretaker or a priest comes every morning to clean them and periodically, repair or enlarge them. People passing by will often stop briefly to pray or on special occasions to make an offering. Some of the shrines in these photographs are Muslim tombs belonging to holy men or women that died decades ago. Others are temples that have sprung up around the base of a Peepal tree that is considered sacred to followers of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. I often noticed followers of one faith praying at the shrine of another, looking for blessings from the resident god or spirit. This is an on going project.