They become ritual spaces for a modern nation to celebrate its plans, achievements and memories. Importantly, they can function as a strong means to create an ‘imaginative community’ since citizens from every walk of life emotionally belong to such spaces. They, therefore, embody forms of nationalism, cultural diversities, multiple pasts and futures, and modernities and traditions of the country. Therefore, the state needs to be very careful while designing public monuments to honor its martyrs.
Though often romanticized as the land of brave soldiers, free and courageous people, Nepal as a modern nation-state has not developed or articulated any strong architectural or visual language to honor its martyrs. Political-psychoanalysts might define it as a deep-seated political and cultural naivety or complexity that we have lived with in this country for one-and-a-half century, a period that spans a historicity of the autocrats who ruled over the people. Probably, this historicity has very brutally conditioned us to perceive heroism in older canons, mostly in feudal forms. This could be one of the reasons why monuments created in the name of martyrs in Nepal are not held in high esteem.
For example, the ‘Sahidgate’, a monument created in the name of the four famous martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the 1940s to establish a culture of freedom and democracy in Nepal does not hold much aura about it. The four martyrs are located just under the statue of the king that occupies the height and centrality of the monument. Situated at the mini-bus park now, the ‘Sahidgate’ has simply become a traffic divider. Moreover, this has become a metaphor of cultural and political insensibility that the politicians and the bureaucrats in the country have been evincing so far.
The incumbent government has decided to build a mega-size monument in memory of the martyrs on the bank of the Bagmati River at Kushikhel area, Patan. And it has already published the design of the much-hyped monument. As a person conducting research on the significance of traditional architectures and performance cultures of the valley, and also as someone who honors the martyrs, some of whom were my villagers with whom I grew up with, I am sorry to state here that the design of the monument passed by the government is very banal and vulgar. It does not have any ‘Nepaliness’ in it except the background view and sceneries of the valley. One can easily guess that it is a rehash of the monuments that one can see in any big metropolitan city across the world. Their proposed design of the monument does not contain any new imaginaire, does not have any features of architectural breakthrough to make.
Sadly, it does not evoke any feelings of love for the martyrs as it does not have any native colors and contours in it. It seems as if someone has downloaded it from Goggle cyberspace. This is a very sad especially for a country that has a history of grand architectural forms. Moreover, the news circulated in the media tells that a certain Swami Anand Arun’s ‘Building Design Authority’ has got the job of constructing the monument. We do not know whether this company or the minds involved in it have conducted any serious researches on monument-making cultures. By looking at the design, we can say that the designer has failed to understand that there exists a strong architectural heritage in this country that demands upon him or her to internalize and practice certain architectural ethics and pragmatics. Though I am not a traditionalist, I strongly believe that monuments erected in the name of Nepali martyrs should embody and reflect certain Nepali architectural textures. They should create some ripples in the architectural world of this country.
Importantly, martyrs are architects of a nation. They design the shape of the nation time and again. By sacrificing their bodies to create wider horizons for their fellow citizens to feel, soar up into dreams, they continue to resound like beautiful songs and music familiar and dear to everyone. And monument makers should capture the spirit of such songs and music that resound in peoples’ minds for ages. Moreover, Nepal as a modern state that has emerged out of dreams and visions of the martyrs needs to be very careful and respectful while erecting monuments to honor these brave souls.
Such monuments must sprout from Nepali imaginations. They must evoke either the uniqueness or confluences of architectural forms of this country. Above all, the nation must make it as an architectural event, and take it as a special occasion for the architects who dream of making some breakthroughs not only in their career but also in the architectural history of their country. I would like to request the seniors as well as the aspiring architects and the concerned government authorities to regard it as the rarest opportunity in the architectural history of the country.
It has become almost a cliché to say that Nepal holds a rich heritage of architectures though we all agree that there are infinite chances of inventing modern forms out of the bulk of traditional architectures to everyone’s pleasure and surprise. Moreover, this is a time of canon formation in our arts and literatures since older canons do not represent our visions and aspirations anymore. This monument, therefore, can function as an exemplary model for similar monuments in the future as well. People, for the first time in the history of this country, have realized that they hold a very direct relationship with the state polity.
This mega-project, estimated to cost approximately 50 million Nepali rupees, should in fact be constructed from funds collected voluntarily. This process or modality of getting youths engaged voluntarily in constructing such a monument can help the country save money to make more of such monuments in other parts of the country as well. Moreover, this can be a very meaningful engagement since youths from different parts of the country can find some good causes and meanings to come together and feel the glory of their nation and history together—the very thing that the martyrs wanted to see and died for. Such an act can also disseminate an important message that the monuments designed in some grand architectural forms are not only things of the past, but they can also be made every time provided that this nation respects its heroes and trusts its youths.
Let’s not make this monument only a company-based, profit-oriented project but a moment of creating an ‘imaginative community’ for the sake of the martyrs and for the very prosperity of this nation. Making monuments for martyrs is the beginning of a new history. Let’s be careful.
rijalshiva@gmail.com
Related story
We’ll declare martyrs of people’s war as national martyrs: PM D...
