During my last trip to
New Delhi, I visited the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). It
was my first visit to the IGNCA and it turned out to be a huge disappointment. In fact even before visiting I had been trying
to get some information but no one responded to my emails. In the Centre itself
there was an air of lethargy and lack of interest. It is a huge sprawling place
and has a number of buildings. There is no Reception to guide the visitor. I was keen to visit their sales counter and
buy some books and DVDs. Unfortunately the Sales Counter located in one
building was closed. With great difficulty I could gather that it has since
shifted to another building. I visited that building to find the counter
locked. I was told that the sales counter was in the process of shifting from
the previous to the new counter and hence it was closed.
A kind sould suggested
that I should meet Madame Kaul in the multi-storeyed building and she may help
me in buying the DVDs and books. I went to her office on the second floor only
to discover that she was on leave that day. I gave up.
Before leaving I saw
two exhibitions, one on Lord Hanuman and the other on Raja Deen Dayal. A little
more on Raja Deen Dayal, who has fascinated me since quite some time but I had
not tried to learn more about him. Here was a god send opportunity for me.
Raja Deen
Dayal (1844-1905) was from a middle class Jain family from Sardhana, near
Meerut of Uttar Pradesh. He studied civil engineering at the Thompson Civil
Engineering College in Roorkee and joined the Public Works Department of the
Princely state of Indore afterwards. His work brought him to the attention of
Maharaja of Indore Tukaji Rao II and Sir Henry Daly in mid 1870s. Deen Dayal
opened a commercial studio at Indore at this time. He then came into contact
with Sir Lepel, whom he joined in his mission to document monuments of
architectural heritage of Central India. It was during this time, when he
photographed forts and palaces at Gwalior, Orcha, Khajuraho, Sanchi, Jhansi,
Deegh, Indore, Omkareshwar etc.
From 1885 onwards, Deen
Dayal worked as photographer at the court of the Sixth Nizam of Hyderabad,
where he remained until his death in 1905, except for intermittent periods of
absence while conducting field tours or visiting Indore and Mumbai to look
after his establishments there. In 1886 he opened his studio, Deen Dayal &
Sons, Secunderabad, where he maintained a staff of fifty for various technical
jobs. In 1892 he even opened a Zenana Studio in Hyderabad where one Mrs. Kenny
Levick photographed "native ladies only" protecting them "from
the gaze of the profane and the stern".
The same year Deen
Dayal closed his Indore Studio and opened a deluxe salon in Mumbai. Called Raja
Deen Dayal and Sons: Art Photographic Salon, it was located at 132, Hornby Road
in the Fort Area and was mainly run by his son Gyan Chand. In 1903 Deen Dayal
went to Delhi with the Nizam to cover the Delhi Durbar where he took some
exquisite photographs of the event.
Raja Lala Deen Dayal died in 1905 in Bombay (Mumbai).
Raja Lala Deen Dayal died in 1905 in Bombay (Mumbai).
Poster announcing the Raja Deen Dayal Gallery
This photo is entitled Miss Nandy.
This fiery photograph is of Sir Raghubir Singh, Maharao of Boondee.
The real magic box- the camera that Raja Deen Dayal used.
(Text with inputs from the internet and IGNCA)
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