The feeling
There is a peace on the river. Certain form of rest is possible here. Even though the city is so close, the road is so loud, there is so much dirt and pollution, yet this is still the calmest of all places in the Old Town. I think it is due to the feeling of space, because here unlike deeper in the city there is a feeling of ‘afar’, ‘on the other side’. Here people wash their clothes, rest all day next to the temple under the Rail Bridge, fish and look after their cattle. The activities that take place here are truly an image of a village yet just few metres away to the west through the busy road raise the walls of the old city. Road is impossible to cross: it hosts a catalogue of vehicles, animals from elephants to donkeys, and endless numbers of people.. People live in peace and in conflict with animals. People live on the edges, trade, pass by, and wait. It is all connected to the deeper areas of the city. Road takes product and people out and into the city. And City is a place of work. Work almost 24h a day. From down deep into the night trade and production is happening. Its busy, it’s mixed, it’s difficult to understand. Boundaries are fluid. All the spaces are owned yet none is designated. Mixed communities and religions share the ever smaller spaces as I go deeper. I am lost.
The site
The site stretching from the river front through the Mubarak Manzil to the Haveli of Sasat Khan is an example of how the old Mughal city fabric of Agra has disintegrated to the point of no recognition.
The garden city of Agra consisted of baghs of the emperor and his wifes, havelis and manzils of princes and nobles on both sides of the Yamuna river. Gardens inside the walls of residences as well as on the river edge represented a picturesque heavenly image praised by all visitors to the city. Yet the riverfront once occupied by costly palaces of famous lords carries little similarities today. After capital of India was moved from Agra to Delhi in mid 17th century Agra stated to decline. Ordinary inhabitants started to take over the river edge and its buildings. Gardens have been absorbed by expanding city. British put in new infrastructure: the rail and contributed to the process of inhabitation of the old gardens. River is polluted and its levels are much lower due to Thames built upstream to draw water for irrigation. Part of it has been reclaimed and a big road has been laid along the Yamuna dividing the old direct city-river connection. Today river is used as a latrine, for garbage, for washing and water buffalos.
The Mubarak Manzil still stands. Its site is partly preserved, partly in filled with new buildings and it is possible to trace the original walls which used to enclose this site. Even less has remained of the Haveli of Sasat Khan. These sites have become a vibrant important point of trade. Here some of the ancestors of old families reside and trade with a vibrant immigrant communities. It is a new city centre of all.
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