Redefining Imageability Through the Lens of Oral Narratives of Procession Badshah Ki Sawari, Nathdwara

EasyChair Preprint 5091

Abstract

An image of any place is not only a reflection of its built form but also the activities carried out by people. The formation of the place is connected with the circumstances of the time, society, education, mental set-up which portrays the overall image of the people and the place. Through social or cultural attitudes of an individual or a community, the cultural landscapes are formed which reflect the physical, biological, and religious character of those lives.

Procession is a form of dynamic activity which has both spatial and cultural dimensions. Route taken up for a procession is an outcome of the cultural memory of people and their connection with the place. Kevin Lynch has explained imageability and legibility through the cognitive maps developed by people to connect with the place using five elements: nodes, edges, landmarks, paths and district.

This research is an attempt to seek a modified model for the concept of imageability taking the case of an annual event, a religious cum political procession Badshah Ki Sawari in Nathdwara, Rajasthan. The oral narratives about the procession will be used as a tool to rethink about the urban design oriented approach and the concept of representation of time in place and visual perception of urban form by Kevin Lynch such that the historic urban landscapes are experienced not just as legible places.

Keyphrases: Kevin Lynch, imageability, procession

@booklet{EasyChair:5091,
  author    = {Tejaswini Rai},
  title     = {Redefining Imageability Through the Lens of Oral Narratives of Procession Badshah Ki Sawari, Nathdwara},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 5091},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2021}}