Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s25.279

v6.c41.s25.279

Who is responsible for the ‘craze for new things from the West’ which ‘was going to convert British India into a province of Europe in matters of architecture and art,’ if the statement is at all correct in some modified form? ‘Craze’ is certainly a subjective quality, and the desire to imitate the conquerors, whether Muslim, English or, French, is a historical fact and a usual weakness of all the conquered and subjugated peoples of the world. The British Government in India have no more compelled us than the earlier conquerors to take to their mode of living. If certain quarters of some big cities in British India have been turned into a ‘province of Europe in matter of architecture,’ and if certain so-called highly placed Indian families have developed a preference for European art, our own ‘craze’ for blind imitation is solely responsible for that.