Some years in the past, whereas exploring Bhuj, a small metropolis in Gujarat, India’s westernmost state, I stumbled upon a ravishing and initially enigmatic construction: a column that supported an enclosure adorned with a whole lot of holes. It appeared to me to be a geometrical abstraction of a large tree — till a pigeon peeped out from one of many openings.
Quickly there have been a whole lot of birds flying out and in of the grand birdhouse. Locals knowledgeable me that the construction was referred to as a “chabutra.”
Over the course of my preliminary four-month keep, and afterward, throughout follow-up visits all through Kutch, the district that features Bhuj, I started documenting the fantastically crafted birdhouses — taking images, accumulating native narratives and recording folks’s reminiscences related to the buildings.
As of in the present day, my images span from 2015 to the current day.
The outdated chicken towers I encountered have been made from wooden and stone. Newer specimens are principally made from concrete and are way more colourful and vibrant. Every design is totally different.
In a lot of India, housing and feeding birds is a typical apply. However in several cities, the collective affinity for birds expresses itself in several methods. Some communities take part in pigeon-rearing, often known as kabootar-baazi, which entails taming the birds, caring for his or her well being, coaching them to fly in a specific path based mostly on verbal instructions and getting ready them for flying competitions. Others deal with conservation efforts. Nonetheless others assemble chabutras.
Within the Kutch district of Gujarat, elegant birdhouses could be present in a lot of the villages and hamlets. Paid for by residents, the buildings are sometimes designed and constructed by masons who, although not skilled as designers, however are in a position to categorical the ethos of their communities.
The homes aren’t merely locations for the birds to remain. Additionally they act as communal areas. Elder women and men sit underneath their shade. Youngsters play close by. Festivals are generally held round them.
I favor to categorise the birdhouses as chicken housing, since, as is true with people, the birds make use of a number of sorts of residential buildings. Among the buildings are like sarais, or motels, a spot for the animals to make temporary stops earlier than touring onward. Others are multistory residence buildings with as many as 40 flooring.
If we analyze the chabutras from an architectural perspective, we would describe some as Indo-Saracenic, Brutalist, postmodern, modern.
A chabutra can be related to the spiritual and cultural identities of its group. Many individuals construct the buildings as memorials to deceased family and friends members and imagine that supplying them with meals is like feeding the souls of the departed. Some Hindus imagine that providing meals on the construction is akin to feeding god.
It’s no shock, then, that enormous donations of birdseed are sometimes made at essential social occasions: funerals, weddings, births. In some cities, contributing grain to communal chabutras may even function a form of punishment, or mandated group service.
Whereas working to find and doc the chabutras in Kutch, I’ve visited a number of dozen villages throughout the district and spoken with numerous individuals who assist inventory and keep the buildings. And whereas the historic wood birdhouses in some locations — Ahmedabad, for instance, Gujarat’s most populous metropolis — have been effectively documented, related consideration hasn’t been paid to these in Kutch.
My purpose with this mission, which I’ve labored on for the final seven years, has been to assist compensate for the shortage of consideration paid to Kutch’s chabutras — significantly within the wake of a devastating earthquake in 2001 that destroyed lots of the celebrated stone specimens.
Whereas the earthquake turned many historic chabutras to rubble, it additionally paved the way in which for the brand new buildings we see in the present day.
