New Delhi: Imagine scrolling through Instagram for hours on end, watching the same dance for the hundredth time, when you suddenly come across one of these maruf kalmen‘s Reel – Old Lucknow ki Ghar or Fort, Drone Shot, Hindi Poetry. Whether it’s giving you a taste of the ‘first fruits of monsoon’ jamun, or a visit to Maqbara Alia, one of the oldest tombs in Lucknow, the Instagram page makes you want to pack your bags and take your next flight. Cities in India have a lot that Indians remember – Instagram pages are now filling that historical gap.
The pages are not limited to heritage buildings, but celebrate and showcase the community and intangible culture that lives in these old quarters. From the Haider family in Amethi to the Sakarwada heritage site in Nashik, which was once the local police station, history lives and breathes in India.
“One day, I went on a heritage walk by a tourism agency to understand the story of Old Delhi. I was saddened when I learned that the tour guide was showing these much-hyped monuments in a great light, describing the people living in Old Delhi in a very negative light – pickpockets and so on. That’s when I decided to work on changing this narrative,” says Abu Sufyan, who runs the Instagram page things of old delhi people,
From Mumbai to Lucknow to Kolkata – most Indian cities now have Instagram pages dedicated to their forgotten history, buildings and people. Instagram and its visual-focused interface make it the perfect medium for creating a modern photographic collection of heritage sites. It has given a platform to heritage enthusiasts and conservation architects across the country.
“I share nothing but history, monuments to dying splendor, what it once was and how it ended. From a broader perspective, one might think that this is the same idea that is repeated over and over again. However, if you look closely, each shot captures a story that is unique in itself. No matter how much I try to conform to a pattern, an idea, the places I go to challenge me to be versatile in what I share,” said Cullman, who founded his Memorials in 2020 started its page as a personal magazine to showcase ,
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soaked in the history of india cities
of Abu Sufyan things of old delhi people One of the earliest legacy was Instagram pages. Initially started on Facebook in 2014, Abu made his Instagram debut the following year. As a young engineering student in Chandigarh fondly missing his home city, Delhi, Sufyan created this community to draw attention to the often misunderstood parts of Old Delhi.
Eight years later, he has about 84,000 followers and carries on various legacies. Pleasure tripWhere artists, historians and even journalists take people across the city, sharing local stories.
The history tours of Sufyan are not based on information from the books, but on people ‘living the stories of the city’.
“I spend 2-3 hours talking to people across town, from writers to everyone chaiwala,” he says.
Describing an incident that led him to organize a series of events highlighting the life of Old Delhi, Sufyan said, “One day while I was in the library, an old man came up to me. One thing did another and he began to remember Mushairas dates back to. I learned how people come together at home for a packed evening Poetry And nAshes This information inspired me and I decided to organize a Mushaira in an old haveli and brought together poets of all ages to perform.”
Mushairas Poetry seminar. nasheed A song, often Islamic, with vocals that are sung either a cappella or sung with percussion instruments.
Through these events, Sufian has helped revive old traditions as well as forgotten recipes. Shab Dag, A Persian dish made of meat and vegetables cooked overnight in a sealed copper vessel for the younger generations. He has even helped save the old havelis By organizing events and raising funds for their maintenance.
“Instagram is helping to open up the legacy experience to audiences of all ages. through things of old delhi peopleOn his page, I joined his heritage food walk organized by Chef Sadaf Hussain. Starting from outside Jama Masjid, we walked through the narrow streets of Old Delhi. He gave me various traditional . introduced to Old Delhi dishes like bedmi puri Potatoes on a leaf plate, made of gram flour, served with carrots Vegetable, We also visited several famous food stalls that have been passed down for generations, such as a famous shop serving fruit flavored ice cream Kucha Patiram Lane,” said Simran KathuriaA blogger who regularly joins Sufyan’s heritage tour.
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City Cornice and Forgotten Buildings
In Mumbai, a conservation architect is uncovering the distinctive features of heritage buildings prevalent across the city. Launched in 2021 by Mallika Keer, beyond inheritance The aim is to preserve Mumbai’s heritage and culture by creating an online repository of these buildings that still stand but have been left unseen.
“These heritage houses and buildings make up the fabric of the city and if we lose them, we will forget about the development of the city around us,” says Keir.
The page, which has gathered nearly 35,000 followers over the past year and a half, showcases unique historical features such as the Keystone Heads on buildings at Horniman Circle from 1873, one with rare homes. wadi (Backyard) In Dadar, among many others, the ziggurat motifs and deep cantilevered balconies of the Suna Mahal on Marine Drive from 1973.
while Kir’s beyond inheritance Established primarily in Mumbai, where the Art Deco architectural style first came to India, through the Mumbai-based architect Hafeez Contractor, the style soon spread to Kolkata in the 1930s, initially in buildings on Ballygunge Circular Road. Viewed.
Adhiraj Bose Calcutta Art Deco Instagram page The City of Joy has been exhibiting since 2017, documenting the last remaining Art Deco structures. Inspired by the UNESCO heritage tag granted to Mumbai for its Victorian and Art Deco buildings, Bose, a lawyer, decided to shed light on the rich architecture of Kolkata.
“Built heritage is the most visible reminder of our past, and a building can capture the story of the city’s development within itself. This is where the importance of preserving built heritage comes from. Without the past, we are rootless, and without the future. to lose a sense of direction,” Bose says.
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role of reels
Reel has been a game-changer for history – good or bad. When attention spans are short, a heritage walk or lesson in less than a minute is always an attention-grabber.
Heritage Instagrammers of India make reel to take advantage of this audience. For example, Keer’s Instagram shows the dynamics around Mumbai’s heritage sites—like pigeon food near Dadar Bazaar. Built in 1993, it fed thousands of pigeons. Some of which are still stored there today.
“Reel allows me to showcase the vibrant energy of Mumbai. Everyone wants to see Mumbai in motion and the reels have allowed me to do that,” said Keer.
An old woman is sewing a sari inside two bright blue doors. Such sights are common in Old Delhi but are rarely seen.
“With the launch of Reels in 2020, our reach has grown tremendously. I started posting short 3-5 second videos of Old Delhi, using popular audio clips from popular Bollywood songs like iqtara, kun faya kuni And it went viral,” Sufyan said.
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a race against time
The growing problem with old heritage buildings is lack of maintenance, legal disputes and new real estate.
Calcutta HouseAn Instagram page started in 2014 by three friends Siddharth Hazra, Sayan Dutta and Manish Golder took up the challenge of recording multiple heritage homes across Kolkata before they could be replaced by new multi-storey complexes.,
“Architecture, objects, places, people – everything is transitory and temporary. However, documenting and creating records for the future allows them to live on and inform future generations,” says Golder.
In Goa, an Instagram page focused on humble verandahs and verandahs. Created in 2017, by Lester Silversea balkao (Porch for the Porch) began as a personal space for him to showcase his thoughts on Goan architecture, but evolved into a public page about the history and heritage of Goan buildings.
“It is not good because it is old, it is old because it is good. There is a certain quality to old buildings that has always fascinated us,” Celeria writes in his blog,
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Who will protect this heritage?
While many of these heritage buildings are often privately owned ancestral property, they also belong to the city. This creates tension as to who should lead the conservation and restoration of these buildings – the successor or the government.
“When the Delhi government was working on restoration plans for the city, they sought recommendations from some experts as well as people representing the community, and I was one of them. I gave them three suggestions that they can easily implement without any funding. first reduce the commercialization of old delhi because they are changing these old delhi mansion in ups and downs. Second, manage the traffic in the area, and third, prevent builders from trying to commercialize the area,” Sufyan said.
Cities like Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata and Mumbai may be modernized and commercialized with the preservation of their past.
“Conservation of heritage should be part and parcel of any approach to sustainable development. Any model of development that tries to ride on this will naturally create imbalances,” says Kolkata’s Bose.