The Temporal City
A large part of the Indian culture is its festivities. Lights, lamps, and festivities are what Indian cities were rendered within the past few days. After 6 months of lockdown, there is an air of celebration that has taken over the otherwise silent year. On the occasion of the festival of Diwali and the Hindu New Year, the cities, towns, and villages in India bloomed with festivities. Homes, offices, and shops were all lit up by individuals as a display of their festive spirit.
The static architecture of a city, as Ar. Rahul Mehrotra calls it, which is made up of concrete buildings, brick structures and permanent architectural structures that have been taken over by non-permanent aspects that make the city festive. The colourful lightings on the built forms, the temporary shed extensions outside sweet shops that were buzzing with people, and the local hawkers and stalls mark the spirit of the people. This ever-transforming character is observed throughout the year in different forms, from seasonal weekend markets to the informal hawkers and vendors on the sides of the streets and roads. In other words, this temporary sea of visual festivity dominates the normal ‘everyday’ image of the city where the permanent is taken over by the dynamic.
Each festival has the streets filled up with vendors and hawkers selling a variety of items, some common and some varying. For instance, during Diwali, it is the marigold flowers and garlands, earthen lamps, firecrackers, and powdered colours for Rangoli that the streets are filled up with whereas, during Holi, it is with powdered colours and water guns. Thus, this dynamic aspect of the city, not only measures changes in the architecture but also marks the time of the year. It is for this reason that cities- especially Indian cities, are not three-dimensional, instead, they are made up of four dimensions- time being the fourth. Marking the time in the dynamic city is the informal street activities that are representative of the upcoming festivities and the temporary ornamental add-ons and pop-ups that monumentalise the on-going festivities of the temporal cities.
India is known for its festive culture, where a wide mix of regional, religious, and national festivals are deeply rooted in the culture, shaping the image and identity of not only the citizens but also the country. The tangible architecture of the decorations, organised chaos of the street markets, and the events whose adverts paint the city — express the intangible festive spirit of the city, the presence of all of these cultural representatives are always first observed on the streets. In other words, the permanent image of India, as a country, the people, and their culture is mapped out on the informal streets of the temporal city; one that is temporary, dynamic, festive, colourful and breeds the spontaneous scenes of the urban life; and not the permanent one.
