(CNN) Surveying the colorful, eclectic architecture of a street in Daulatpur, a rural town in the Indian state of Punjab, photographer Rajesh Vora felt like he had gotten lucky. In front of him, a large model of an Air India plane sat atop a pale green building. Across the street, a replica military tank sat atop a yellow house, its gun pointing and a soldier sticking out of its hatch.
While these designs look like they’ve been lifted from an amusement park, they’re actually elaborate water tanks built on the rooftops of private homes. The phenomenon, captured by Mumbai-based photographer Vora, is an indigenous tradition of architectural icons that sprung up across the northwestern state about 50 years ago, and was the subject of a multi-year project that will be exhibited at the Arles International Photography Fair in France this summer. Vora visited 150 villages and photographed hundreds of these designs.
The extravagant decoration is “a great idea that combines form and function,” Vora told CNN in a phone interview. When he first noticed the water tanks while working in the area in 2014, he explained, “I was amused that anyone would see this kind of sculpture,” but “then I realized, as an architectural photographer, I was amazed to see how the sculptures blended into the homes that local craftsmen built.”
The rooftops of these homes feature unusual status symbols, often commissioned by Indian migrants who will be returning home later in the year, or by families still living in the area. Some are utilitarian water tanks, while others are installed on top of more traditional plumbing designs. Each one has a special story to tell, he explained.
“If you’re an athlete, you put a football, if you’re a chef, you put a pressure cooker, if you like alcohol, you put a bottle of whiskey,” he explained. Planes, tanks and cars were also popular motifs. “All the aspirations of the individual are embodied in the home.”
Last year, Vora published a book called Monuments of the Everyday, which features photographs from the villages he visited and texts from architectural, academic and curatorial experts, exploring this unique tradition. Through his research, he estimated that there are around 30 artisans in the region who work by word of mouth with homeowners and their families to create these lifelike sculptures.
Diaspora Icon
Vora came across the structures by chance while visiting a gurdwara (Sikh temple) in the village of Tarkhan while working on a commissioned photo series on global migration. Known as the Hawaijahaji (Airplane) Gurdwara, the gurdwara welcomes visitors with model airplanes in hopes of quickly being granted a visa to leave India. Vora explained that he’s heard that many of those whose visas are approved eventually return to their villages and start displaying the airplanes on the exterior walls of their new homes.
During six trips between 2014 and 2019, Vora came to understand the full scope of this trend better. It began in the 1970s, when Punjabi immigrant communities flourished in countries such as Canada, the UK and the US. As custom-designed water tanks became more popular, local builders gained expertise. Favourite iconic structures tend to shift in popularity over the years. For example, when India began manufacturing the popular Maruti van in the 1980s, it also began to be used for residential buildings. Vora also observed how village owners brought back unique ideas from abroad, resulting in a mix of architectural styles from different countries in the villages.
But recording the water tanks was initially a challenge – remote parts of Punjab were not yet on Google maps, so he explained that he visited villages and crossed his fingers.
“Some days, if we’re lucky, we get three or four different tanks; other days, we get nothing,” says Vora, adding that in Daulatpur, it is rare to see multiple designs in one frame.
Vora isn’t sure how this tradition will grow and change as the region continues to undergo major changes, especially as Indians from marginalized backgrounds gain economic mobility and second- and third-generation immigrants accumulate wealth abroad.
“Will they come back to India? Will they build their own houses? Will they take care of these houses? We don’t know,” Vora said of the younger generation. “If these houses aren’t taken care of for 30 or 40 years, they will fall apart… Maybe they will disappear.”
The photographer hopes to continue building an archive of Punjab’s unique architectural heritage, and intends to keep searching for the iconic home he would choose to design if commissioned. “It would be the camera,” he says, laughing. He’s traveled more than 3,500 miles and is yet to find one.
CNN Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2024 THE-CNN-WIRE (TM) & © 2023 CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., A TIME WARNER COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.