By Barkha Kumari
Hari Bhagirath likes to take photographs of cemeteries, graveyards and tombstones. And there is nothing macabre about this hobby, the management professional assures. It started with a class on photography in 2009 by a German guest lecturer. His batchmates and he were taken to a Christian cemetery near Dairy Circle, along Hosur Road, to capture its architectural beauty. A section of this cemetery houses the bodies of British soldiers, and even their dogs.
"Though photography at cemeteries might seem intrusive, photographers like me aim to just click the beauty and serenity of the environment, without being disrespectful," Bhagirath explains. "These images are also a way of documenting the Catholic heritage of Bengaluru," he adds.
Since then, he's visited Jewish, Dutch and British graves in Kochi, and Ooty. English writer Charles Dickens' burial ground in the Poets' Corner of the Westminster Abbey, London, is on his wish list.
Bhagira th is not alone in this pursuit. The 31-year-old has run into quite a few cemetery enthusiasts in the city. Some come with cameras, others with pen and paper, and a few come alone to take in the peace of the place. Students and scholars of history often head there too.
FACT CHECK
A quick Google search about 'Love for cemeteries' will upturn the terms tapophilia and taphophiles. Tapophilia is the passion for spending time at burial grounds, appreciating its beauty, recording its history, reading epitaphs plus interpreting them to know the person they belong to. It is also loosely referred to as an art, which attracts poets, photographers, filmmakers alike.
Gravestone rubbing is another goal, i.e., creating an image of a stone surface on paper. Snubbed as a weird, strange hobby and sometimes a syndrome, it's fairly common to mistake tapophiles for necrophiles. The latter, well, are sexually attracted to bodies. So the two are poles apart. Unlike India, where ta king photos of graves will understandably raise eyebrows and invite wrath from its keepers, Britain is high on what is called 'Tombstone Tourism'. The Cemetery Club in London not only runs cemetery tours, but also maintains a blog about these 'often overlooked and misunderstood places', acting as an online library of the dead. Websites such as Findagrave.com archives the graves of famous people from around the world, plus interesting epitaphs.
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But Bhagirath's tapophilia is limited to the camera. "I see cemeteries as a viable theme for photography, and nothing more. So whenever I learn about an interesting cemetery, I head out with my camera," he says. While he openly talks about this hobby, his batchmate, another enthusiast, requests anonymity. Yes, their hobby does evoke the "Are you mad?" question every time they talk about it. The latter, a filmmaker, is aware that walking around burial grounds for leisure or artistic exploration is largel y unheard of in India, plus it could upset the family of the dead.
He has visited quite a few, including the north London's Highgate Cemetery. Known for the finest funerary architecture, it has almost 1,70,000 people buried in there, including the Prussian economist Karl Marx.
"For someone like me, who works with stories," the filmmaker begins, "the sight of tombs that are hundreds of years old is thought-provoking. Hari (Bhagirath) used to rightly say that cemeteries are those spaces that have virtually stood the test of time. They have a sanctity of their own as they are least crowded and least disturbed. Plus, they are one of the few remaining green spaces in a city, and are a space of beauty." Cemeteries bear a unique flavour for a photographer (imagine that 'weathered look'), he adds, denying the tapophile tag. He likes to capture the change in ambience at the cemeteries as the seasons come and go.
The two agree that the first cemetery trip, as part of the photography class, was uneasy and awkward, but there was no guilt. The filmmaker says, "I was not destroying anything. In fact, I felt good that my photos could preserve these memories. I was instructed to walk around the graves with respect, because only living people could do more harm." They don't favour group outings as it can get noisy, and against the decorum. Two or three people, at the most.
Photographers have triggered a few positive changes in these sacred spaces, they claim. "Our occasional visits have prompted the caretakers of the cemetery (near Dairy Circle) to clean and maintain the facility," informs Bhagirath. His filmmaker-friend adds, "I feel the presence of ethical and focused individuals such as photographers discourage anti-social elements from loitering around. Most watchmen don't mind our presence as we quietly shoot pictures and leave. They just don't want us to be around when the families of the dead are visiting (for pray ers, or burials)."
As a matter of principle, the two keep photography to the minimal when unobserved by watchmen. Also, most of the images are kept private; only a few make it to the social media. "We blur the names and details of the deceased while uploading the photos. That is a thumb rule," adds Bhaigrath.
The upkeep of burial grounds is important, they say. Bhagirath once ran into an American who came looking for his grandfather's grave in Bengaluru. The filmmaker shares another story: "I spotted a British tourist who was visiting his great grandfather's tomb here. He also went on to take photos of those who had passed away at the same age and were buried in that cemetery. When I asked him why he is collecting information, he said these spots are invaluable in the history of not just Bengaluru but India as well."At times, the city chapter of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) receives requests from foreigners who want to know t he whereabouts of their late ancestors, says its co-convener Meera Iyer. She tells us one Ronnie Johnson, who was passionate about preserving the history of the city, used to get many such calls. Johnson, who is no more, along with one admiral OS Dawson, had tried documenting the Old Protestant Cemetery, located close to the Agram Barracks. Also popular by the name of Agram Cemetery, the burials there date from 1808 to 1860s, and feature flamboyant and ornate sculptures (angels, cherubs, columns and crosses).
"This Victorian kind of architecture is peculiar to that period. It changed around 1900. For instance, the British were running out of space for such elaborate graves, so they made a rule to build smaller graves later on," shares Iyer. The plan was to also archive the other cemeteries of Bengaluru, and a committee was constituted for it too, but it failed to take off as Dawson and Johnson passed on, says historian Suresh Moona.
While photographers are trying to save history and memories from fading without a trace, a little participation from the government can give this underground group its due. "Some tombs here belong to famous naval officers and soldiers who fought in the 1857 war of Independence. These spaces are historically significant. I believe responsible activities such as photography can encourage the government to support restoration and development of these sacred grounds," says Bhagirath.
Source:
Shooting in the dark: A few photographers in Bengaluru visit cemeteries for deep, deadly pictures
