Decolonising the Gateway of India

Title

Decolonising the Gateway of India

Creator

Kumaramkandath R.

Description

This article interrogates how a colonial monument, the Gateway of India in Mumbai, former Bombay, continues to carry and be endowed with a title that is a misplaced embodiment of Indian social histories. Built in the 1920s, this monument, definitely a work of architectural grandeur, continues to carry its erroneous rendition and confines Indias vast social histories to the colonial moment, with an anglo-centric focus. As the monument symbolises the memory of the colonial regime, it also signifies its oppression as well as its exit from the subcontinent, rather than witnessing anyone coming to India, except King George in 1911, as the monuments title seems to suggest. A mnemonic device of colonialism, this misleading label needs to be seriously revisited, for it not only romanticises the colonial past but also fails to lead our memories back to certain crucial episodes in earlier social histories, from which the monument and its specific place, Mumbai, are more or less fully absent. 2023 The Author(s).

Source

South Asia Research, Vol-43, No. 1, pp. 7-17.

Date

2023-01-01

Publisher

Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd

Subject

Bombay/Mumbai; decolonisation; Gateway of India; history; monuments

Coverage

Kumaramkandath R., Christ (Deemed To Be University), Bangalore, India

Rights

Restricted Access

Relation

ISSN: 2627280

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1177/02627280221141045

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