In Monumental Matters: The Power, Subjectivity, and Space of India's Mughal Architecture, art historian Santhi Kavuri-Bauer presents a rich and insightful account of the varied desires, fantasies, and denouements that can surround monumental edifices that outlive an original raison d’être. The study's premise is that the idea of the “monument” is inherently a creative and ever-changing process, in which the past is constantly being reinterpreted to suit the needs of the present. These, as Kavuri-Bauer demonstrates, can vary across religious, racial, and national boundaries. The book is focused on grand edifices in Agra and Delhi that were commissioned by imperial Mughal patrons, whose architectural creations are charged symbols that are claimed and contested in modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
The six chapters that constitute the book are arranged chronologically, beginning in the eighteenth century and leading up to the present day. Chapter 1 is concerned with the decades...
