Top Ten London connections with India

July 1, 2020 Comments Off

This blog celebrates the many connections London has with India. There are, of course, many memorials, buildings and institutions which are relevant to Britain’s colonial connections with India, but there are also currently thriving religious and other institutions which serve London’s considerable population with South Asian roots.

The Top Ten blog can only provide a small sample of places, in both central London and the outer suburbs, which you can visit to sample the connections. We very much hope you will enjoy doing this.

Kingsley Hall, E3 by Stephen Benton

There is an unexpected Indian connection with Kingsley Hall, a community centre in Bromley-by-Bow in the East End. The centre was named after Kingsley Lester who died aged 26 in 1914, leaving money for work in the local area for “educational, social and recreational” purposes. His sisters, Doris and Muriel, established the centre in a converted disused chapel. Later, the current Hall was built on Powis Road, with a stone-laying ceremony taking place on 14 July 1927.

A couple of years after it opened, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), better known as Mahatma Gandhi, stayed there for about 12 weeks. Gandhi was an anti-colonial Indian nationalist who employed only nonviolent resistance. He led the successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

In the autumn of 1931, Ghandi came to London to attend a conference on the future of India. He declined to stay in a hotel, opting instead for Kingsley Hall where he stayed in a modest cell-like bedroom, sleeping on the roof itself when the weather was suitable. He rose at dawn and would go for local long walks, particularly along the banks of the nearby River Lea.

My father lived a couple of streets away and he and his twin brother would play football or cricket in the recreation ground behind the hall. He remembered Gandhi’s visit even though he was only eight at the time. This was because he and his brother were told off for making a noise playing cricket against the back wall of the hall. They were disturbing an elderly Indian gentleman who was trying to sleep. That is what they were told but they never did see him in the flesh.

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir – “A palace of paramount peace, a centre for realising God” by Daniella King

Although just a short 15-minute walk from Neasden Station and a stone’s throw from the North Circular, you will be transported thousands of miles when you encounter one of the biggest Hindu Temples outside India.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (commonly known as the Neasden Temple) has been described by Time Out as “One of London’s Seven Wonders” where “it is impossible to stand inside here without feeling spiritually moved and inwardly contemplative”.

It opened in 1995 after two years of construction costing £13m raised by the Hindu community.

The temple was designed in accordance with the rules of sacred Hindu architecture and was built using 2828 tonnes of Bulgarian limestone. The construction involved 1526 India-based sculptors who carved 6,300 separate pieces out of 2000 tonnes of Italian and Indian marble. These pieces were then transported to London and all put together as a giant jigsaw puzzle forming a riot of domes, cupolas, pinnacles and spires. The temple is surrounded by beautiful gardens which combine the best of Indian and British flowers, trees and shrubs.

The name of the temple originates from the life of 18^th century Indian Bhagwan Swaminarayan. At the age of 11, he undertook a pilgrimage across India that lasted 7 years and led to the establishment of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, centred on morality and spirituality, and transcending barriers of caste and gender.

Everyone is welcome to visit the temple (post lockdown of course). No matter who you are and what your beliefs are you will be made very welcome! The beautiful architecture continues inside the Mandir, which is the main building of worship. The main focus is on the murtis, the statues of the various deities which are brightly clothed in robes and garlands.

Don’t forget to visit the exhibition “Understanding Hinduism,” which looks at the history of Hinduism and the origins of its traditions and beliefs.

Finally, a visit to the Temple is not complete without a visit to the Shayona restaurant for a delicious vegetarian curry which would seal the end of an excellent visit.

Noor Inayat Khan by Alan Fortune

In Gordon Square, Bloomsbury stands a memorial, unveiled by the Princess Royal in 2012, to Noor Inayat Khan. Noor was a Muslim woman who became an allied WW2 heroine. Born in 1914, she was a direct descendant of an 18th century Muslim ruler of Mysore who refused to submit to British rule and was killed in battle in 1799. Educated in Paris, Khan escaped to England soon after the Nazi occupation and joined the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force), later being recruited to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) as a radio operator.

In 1943 she became the first female radio operator to be sent to France, where she worked in a Paris-based resistance network. For three months she single-handedly ran a cell of agents across Paris. This was extremely dangerous work so she frequently had to change her name and appearance. Many members of the network were arrested but Khan bravely chose to remain in France, continually trying to avoid capture by changing location and sending messages back to London. Eventually she was betrayed and the Gestapo arrested her. One consistent aspect of her many changes of appearance was her love of the colour blue. Sadly this helped the Gestapo to track her down. She did still manage to escape prison but was recaptured a few hours later. Along with three other SOE agents she was transferred to Dachau concentration camp and shot.

For her heroism Khan was posthumously awarded both the George Cross and the Croix-de-Guerre. She is now commemorated by a bust in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, sculpted by Karen Newman and unveiled in 2012 by the Princess Royal. Noor Khan had lived nearby as a baby and returned to Bloomsbury for her SOE training.

Koh-i-Noor Diamond by Rob Smith

One of the most dazzling sights in London connected with India is one that Londoners seldom go to see – the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond. Today the diamond, one of the largest and most beautiful in the world, sits in the Queen Mother Crown amid the other Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. The Koh-i-Noor diamond has a complex and contentious history of ownership, which remains controversial.

The diamond joined the Crown Jewels in 1901 on the death of Queen Victoria, who had it mounted in a brooch for her own personal use. It had come to her in 1851, as a result of one of the clauses of the Treaty of Lahore which had ended the brutal war between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company. The war gave the East India Company control of Punjab, but the Earl of Dalhousie, Governor General of India, insisted that the Sikhs hand the diamond to Queen Victoria, possibly to enhance the Company’s standing with the Queen.

The owner before that was Duleep Singh, child emperor of the Sikhs, who had been given the Koh-i-Noor after his father Sher Singh had been killed in a coup. Before then the diamond had been in the possession of Sikh leaders since 1813 when Shah Shujah Durrani, ruler of Afghanistan, had handed it to them after the collapse of his British-backed government. It had been in Afghanistan since being captured by the Persians from the Mughal empire in 1739. In 1526 the Mughal emperor Babur had seized it during the fall of Delhi.

It is amazing to think the diamond has been the booty in all these wars and fought over by kings and emperors and yet most visitors spend a few seconds looking at it. Currently the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Britain all claim to be the rightful owner of the diamond, so the diplomatic wrangling over this precious stone continues.

Shikharbandhi Jain Deraser (Jain Temple) by Marilyn Greene

Some years ago I was lucky enough to arrange a visit to the Oshwal Association’s Shikharbandhi Jain Deraser (temple) a short distance from Potters Bar on the outskirts of London. Completed in 2005, it was the first temple of this kind to be built on virgin soil according to ancient traditions. No steel was used in its construction. 1,300 tonnes of pink sand stone from Ambaji in Gujarat, North West India, and 500 tonnes of Indian marble from Makrana in Rajasthan (where the marble for the Taj Mahal came from) were carved by over 450 craftsmen. Overall 5,759 carved pieces were shipped to London and assembled together in a period of 15 months.

The plan and the landscaping of the temple is symbolic to Jainism. The whole outline of the temple represents the description of the Jain universe in the shape of a person standing with their feet apart and arms resting on their hips. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and 52 trees have been planted to represent the 52 villages of the Halar district of Jamnagar in Gujarat where the majority of members of the Oshwal Association have their ancestral routes.

Oshwals are followers of the Jain faith, an ancient religion originating in India. Jainism was preached by 24 Tirthankaras or Jinas (liberated souls) of whom Lord Mahavir was the 24th and founder of the faith. Born a prince in 599 BCE, at the age of 30 he relinquished attachment to family and worldly goods and took up the life of an ascetic.

Jain guiding principles are: Right Belief, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct and the main cornerstones of the philosophy are the practice of non-violence and concern for the welfare of every being within the Universe and for the health and welfare of the Universe.

A visit to the Shikharbandhi Jain Deraser will leave you feeling peaceful and respectful of the world and those around you.

State Bank of India (SBI) by Jenni Bowley

Last year the outgoing Regional Head of the State Bank of India’s UK operations, Mr. Sanjiv Chadha, was awarded the Freedom of the City of London, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to promoting UK-India relations. Previous recipients include Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.

India is now the fourth largest foreign investor in the UK while the UK is the third largest investor in India. UK-India bilateral trade exceeds £20 billion per annum.

SBI is India’s largest and oldest bank. It began as the Bank of Calcutta in 1806 and was set up mainly to fund General Wellesley‘s wars against Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore. We recommend a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum (or its website) to see Tipu’s Tiger, a mechanical toy created for Tipu Sultan which shows a tiger savaging a European man!

In 1809, the bank was renamed the Bank of Bengal and until 1861 it was one of only three banks which could issue paper currency – a right taken over by the Government of India. The three banks merged in 1921 as the Imperial Bank of India, becoming SBI on India’s independence in 1955. It was nationalised in 2008.

The oldest entirely Indian joint stock bank still in existence is the Punjab National Bank, established in Lahore in 1894. It is now one of the largest banks in India and has four branches in London.

Banking has a much longer history in India than in Europe. As long ago as the fourth century BCE, merchants could use an adesha, which was an order on a banker directing him to pay the sum on the note to a third person. In large towns, merchants also gave letters of credit to one another.

Ambekdar House by Rhona Levene

As I write this short piece about 10 King Henry’s Road in NW3 against the backdrop of discussions about the removal of slave traders’ statues, I wonder whether Camden Council would now make the same decision as they made in 2018. It was then that they decided to close the Ambekdar Museum because he was “not significant enough in the UK”. Dr. B. R. Ambekdar, the Father of the Indian Constitution, lived here in 1920-21 when doing a PhD at the London School of Economics and a law degree at Gray’s Inn. The house was bought by the west Indian state Maharashtra for £3 million in 2015 and opened as a museum with free entry shortly thereafter. Happily, it is currently still functioning as a museum since the British Government overruled Camden Council’s 2018 decision to close it.

Ambekdar was born in 1891 into poor low Mahar (dalit) caste. Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda provided financial help for Ambekdar’s education and he first came to London in 1916. However, the onset of WW1 meant his scholarship was terminated.

His “Annihilation of Caste” was written in 1936 to be delivered at the annual conference for the Society for the Abolition of Caste System but when the organisers asked him to amend some of his text that they considered objectionable towards the orthodox Hindu religion, his response was “I will not change a comma”. The whole conference that year was cancelled and Ambedkar published 1500 copies of the speech as a book.

On the caste system he wrote, ‘They observe caste because they are deeply religious. People are not wrong in observing caste. In my view what is wrong is their religion, which has inculcated this notion of caste’.

After India’s independence in 1947 he became the nation’s first Law Minister.

He also was very outspoken about women’s rights, I particularly like this quote of his: “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved”.

Guildhall Porch by Jen Pedler

Approaching Guildhall Yard from King Street gives a magnificent view of Guildhall with its ‘Hindoo Gothic’ porch, completed in 1789 and designed by George Dance the Younger.

The porch was built at a time when the Empire was rapidly expanding and eastern influences were beginning to find their way into art and architecture. Echoes of India are apparent, particularly in the design of the windows and the outline of the turrets, combined with neo-classicism (the pilasters) and elements harking back to the earlier Gothic porch which it replaced (the crenelations). Dance was an innovative architect and the originality of his design was very much a statement of the time.

Guildhall, the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London, dates from the fourteenth century. The original walls still survive, having withstood the ravages of the 1666 Great Fire and the Blitz in 1940, but it has been re-roofed five times. It’s a building which could be said to embody the history of the City. I look forward to talking about it again on my walks when we’re able to get back out on the streets.

Gurdwara Sikh Sangat by Dave Charnick

On a side street leading off Bow Road, at 84 Harley Grove, stands the Gurdwara Sikh Sangat, incongruously Victorian in an area much redeveloped since World War Two. Built in 1854-5 as a congregational chapel, it has had more than one change of usage. In 1927 it became the Mile End and Bow Great Synagogue, and still retains a former shrine, which was used for the Ark, housing the Hebrew Scriptures. But in 1979 the building was converted to a Sikh temple.

A gurdwara is the Sikh meeting place for worship, the term ‘gurdwara’ translating as the guru’s door. This is also a place of teaching, with accommodation for spiritual leaders, known as Giani Jis. (As Sikhism acknowledges sexual equality, a Giani Ji can be either male or female.)

Sikhism originated in the Punjab region of northern India and eastern Pakistan, and Sikhs identify with the culture of this region. Consequently the Gurdwara teaches Punjabi classes. It also teaches classes in gatkha, a martial art associated with Sikhism. The discipline of gatkha has been handed down since the earliest days of Sikhism, and is a form of stick-fighting, the wooden sticks representing swords.

On the afternoon of 16 March 2009 the Harley Grove Gurdwara suffered an arson attack. An intruder set fire to the building and although the culprit was spotted and chased out by worshippers, 75% of the building was destroyed. Several Sikh holy books, known as Guru Granth Sahib Jis, were also destroyed. As the culprit has not been identified however, the motivation remains unknown.

The community came to the rescue of the Gurdwara, and the restored establishment reaches out to the wider community. Visitors are welcomed warmly, and also fed in the langar, the communal kitchen which is the embodiment of Sikh hospitality.

Indian Connections in Redbridge by Robin Rowles

Valentines Mansion, now part of Valentines Park in Ilford, has an Indian connection that is little known outside the London Borough of Redbridge. The house was originally built in 1696 for Lady Tillotson, widow of the Archbishop of Canterbury, but in 1754 it was purchased by Charles Raymond, a banker and shipowner for the East India Company. Raymond, born in 1713, appropriately for a merchant captain had lived in Wapping before acquiring Valentines.

Raymond’s uncles were shipowners and at the age of sixteen, he made his first voyage to Madras and Bengal. At just twenty-one, Raymond was appointed captain of the East Indiaman The Wager, in which he made four voyages for the company. Raymond evidently prospered because in 1747 he purchased The Wager. He acquired more ships and over the next 40 years his vessels made over 100 voyages for the company.

Raymond’s family lived in Valentines for over 25 years. During his occupancy, he developed the gardens and added a menagerie, as gentlemen of means did. His career was as spectacular as his gardens: manager of the Sun Fire Office 1756-73, High Sheriff of Essex in 1771/2 and appointed director of the South Sea Company in 1776. He became Sir Charles Raymond when he was created 1st Baronet Raymond in 1774. When his wife Sarah and his brother-in-law Captain Webber died in 1778-79, Raymond left Valentines and moved into nearby Highlands House.

He had built Highlands when he purchased Valentines and leased it to Captain Webber. Raymond died in 1788 and his baronetcy was transferred to his son-in-law William Burrell (the line continues today). Valentines was purchased by the Borough of Ilford in 1912 and today is the Redbridge Museum and Heritage Centre.