Stokoe Westbergs in India: A weekend in Lucknow - the city of Nawabs. Feb 6-8, 2015

"Not Rome, not Athens, not Constantinople, not any city I have seen

appears to me as striking and so beautiful as this."

These lines about the city of Lucknow were written in

March 1858 by William Howard Russell,

the much travelled correspondent of The Times'.

Lucknow ( Hindi: लखनऊ, Urdu: لکھنؤ, Lakhnau) is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India. Lucknow is also the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division.

Located in what was historically known as the Awadh region, Lucknow has always been a multicultural city. Courtly manners, beautiful gardens, poetry, music, and fine cuisine patronized by the Persian-loving Shia Nawabs of the city are well known amongst Indians and students of South Asian culture and history. Lucknow is popularly known as the The City of Nawabs. It is also known as the Golden City of the East, Shiraz-i-Hind and The Constantinople of India.

The Nawab of Awadh or Nawab of Oudh was the title of rulers who governed the state of Oudh (Awadh) in India in the 18th and 19th century. (source)

Today, Lucknow is a vibrant city that is witnessing an economic boom and is among the top ten fastest growing non-major-metropolitan cities of India. It is the second largest city in Uttar Pradesh state. The unique combination of its cultured grace and newly acquired pace is its most promising feature that augurs well for the future. (source)

My lovely guide in Delhi, Surekha Narain, offered a 3-day guided trip to Lucknow. I forwarded the suggestion to a couple of friends. We could not resist this temptation so off we went. 1 hour by air only from Delhi direction east pretty much.

We landed in Lucknow shortly before lunch on Friday February 6 and took a taxi to the hotel. Most of the others in the group of 12 had already arrived. Surekha is not the one for wasting time, she urged us to go for a walk around the block.

Off we went and found the worst shop ever ... a book shop!!! Oh, no! Needless to say I had to check my hand luggage on the return trip to Delhi ...

Mary and Mido checking out a whole long row of dresses that hung along a heavily trafficated road, where vehicules of all sorts competed in who had the loudest/funniest/most used/most tired horn.

Surekha had arranged for us all to have lunch at the Taj Vivanta - yeah!

The Chef himself

After this lovely meal we were off to explore what the city of Lucknow has to offer!

First stop: Dilkusha Palace -Situated at the eastern, end of the city, Dilkusha Kothi was built for the sixth Nawab of Awadh, Saadat Ali Khan in 1805...

This hall was used as a ball room - you have to imagine beautiful carpets, fabrics on the walls, lights everywhere, and, well, ... a roof.

Dilkusha Kothi is the remains of an eighteenth-century house built in the English baroque style in the quiet Dilkusha area of Lucknow in India. Today there are only a few towers and external walls as a monument, though the extensive gardens remain. The house was shelled during its involvement in the Lucknow siege in 1857 together with the Residency and the nearby school of La Martiniere. If you want to see an old picture of it, click here.

Next stop: La Martinière - "La Martiniere College, Lucknow, established in 1845, was founded in accordance with the Will of Major General Claude Martin. Born in Lyon, France, in 1735, the Founder died in Lucknow on 13 September, 1800. The day of his death, by his own instructions is commemorated as ‘Founder’s Day’. Under his Will, certain funds were allotted for the establishment of schools at Lyon, his birth place in France, in Calcutta and at Lucknow. In his Will Claude Martin also directed that “my house at Luckperra or Constantia House with all the ground and premises belonging to the house and all the ground around it, none is to be sold or detached from it.” The Will went on to define his purpose, which was “for to keep the said Constantia House for school or College for learning young men the English language and Christian religion if they found themselves inclined.” "

Groupie of Mido and myself by the obelisque

Surekha Narain, a fountain of information.

"Born at Lyon, France in 1735, Claude Martin was the son of a cooper. At the age of sixteen, he enlisted in the French army and arrived in India in 1752 to begin his military career. After the Siege of Pondicherry he could foresee the end of French hopes in India and threw in his lot with the English. It was a sound choice as undeterred by early setbacks and by virtue of his numerous skills and qualities, Martin rose to the rank of Major-General and amassed a vast fortune."

"During the twenty-four years that he spent at Lucknow his genius flowered. He was in-charge of the state arsenal, the site on which Raj Bhawan stands today. He also manufactured cannon, ammunition, bells and coins. A self-taught architect, he designed and constructed several outstanding buildings, some of which, including the Chattar Manzil and Bibiapur Kothi can still be seen in Lucknow. Perhaps the grandest of all the buildings designed by him is “Constantia”, which is now over 200 years old."

" “Constantia”, his country house and tomb at Lucknow, is a curious building in a blend of styles which compulsively draws attention to itself. It has been described as “a wedding cake in brick”, a “Gothic castle” and a “baroque folly”. It is this building which forms the focal point of La Martiniere, Lucknow."

We left the building with the library and the tomb and walked through the fabulous gardens in the back.

A much needed coffee break ...

... then we continued to Safed Baradari, Qaiserbagh and the much awaited anual Mahindra Sanatkada festival.
"The Sanatkada organization, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) is based in Lucknow, India. Sanatkada focuses on women’s empowerment and growth, and raises money for itself and its empowerment training by running a craft shop and selling products from all over India.

"The Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival aims to bring back the famed but fading Lucknowi Tehzeeb. The festival is a celebration of craft, art, music, film, theatre, cuisine and heritage and is organized by Sanatkada, a non-profit crafts collective. Over the years, this festival has created a permanent space for itself in Lucknow's culture calendar as it draws thousands of attendees from the city and its surroundings."

This man, with his henna coloured hair, is one of the best calligraphers in the country (or, so we were told). He made the most intricate calligraphy with names and animals.