Lucknow: The City of Heritage & Culture A Walk Through History

Lucknow is known as a city of dreams, and 160 years after the elegant court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, there are almost as many different ways of interpreting it, as there were dreamers. Splendid buildings in brick that have witnessed centuries of history, the chime of temple bells, the call of the muezzin, the magical strains of thumri, the soulful lyrics of ghazals, the expressive grace of Kathak dance, the exquisite crafts, the delicate flavours of cuisine—all these are part of the fascinating city of Lucknow. The famed nazaakat and nafaasat, go hand-in-hand with the marvellous buildings in Indo-Saracenic style. Lucknow: The City of Heritage and Culture takes us on many journeys through a bygone era, exploring the passions and aesthetics of the people of Awadh. It features over 100 colour photographs and minute architectural drawings that recreate the splendour of Lucknow’s historic monuments.

Vipul B. Varshney

Vipul B. Varshney is a multi-talented architect, whose portfolio covers a wide range of projects in India as well as Mauritius. She has designed and executed some of India’s most renowned projects—from a township outside Mumbai for an urban diaspora to public buildings and hospitals. She is Convenor–INTACH, Lucknow chapter; Adviser, National Scientific committee ICOMOS, India; and an avid lover of the fine arts and India’s rich heritage. She is the author of two books Lucknow—A Treasure and Shaam-e-Awadh—A Visual Journey, as well as 50 research papers and numerous articles for national dailies and international conferences. She had been a technical adviser of the Lucknow Mahotsava Committee to the Government of U.P. and also in the Heritage Regulation Drafting Committee for Lucknow Master Plan 2021. She has also been a visiting faculty at her alma mater and Professor-Design Chair at Integral University, Lucknow. She is the recipient of many awards including U.P. Ratan 2013, Ganj Carnival Award—Shakti Samman 2015, Heritage Award 2016 from U.P. Government, Hindustan Times Women Achiever’s Award—2013 nominee and A3 Foundation–Excellence in Architectural Journalism 2016.

Photographs by Ajaish Jaiswal

Ajaish Jaiswal is a hotelier by profession and a photographer by passion. Under the guidance of his guru Shri Ravi Kapoor, in the best guru–shishya (teacher-pupil) tradition, he held four solo exhibitions from 2012 to 2015 on the famous AsafiImambara built by Nawab Asafud Daulah, and also produced a calendar each year based on those images.