JAWAHAR KALA KENDRA

by Charles Correa
Project by: Rishabh Sharma
 I N T R O D UC T I O N
Project: Jawahar Kala Kendra (further referred as JKK)
Location: Old city of Jaipur, Rajasthan- India
Period of
Construction: 1986-1991
Architect: Charles Correa
Client: Rajasthan Government, India
Purpose: Cultural centre to preserve the Rajasthani arts & crafts
‘Jawahar Kala Kendra’ (JKK) is one the best examples of
Indian contemporary architecture built in a planned histor-
ic city of Jaipur, where the modernity fuses with the past
through different space organisation and materials used.
As Charles Correa during his interview with RIBA president
Angela Brady told that “The design of JKK comes from city
itself, which was based on the nine squares each representing
nine planets. And the ruler who built the city was obsessed
with the sky, so on one side he used the oldest myths of the
sky which is the ‘Navgrah’ (the nine planets) and then he
also is the one who built the newest myths which is science,
through astronomical instruments. For example, the Jantar
Mantar (masonry tools designed to study the sky), which
where way ahead of their time. People measured very pre- ‘Navragraha Mandala’
cisely the movement of the sun and the stars because the
instruments were made from masonry and fixed, so otherwise
metal instruments could move with the tremor of the earth or
something else. So, he had these two different takes on the
sky, and he brought them together in this city and since it’s
a memorial to India’s first prime minister ‘Jawahar Lal Neh-
ru’, nothing better than to bring back the city its past. Nehru
wrote a book called ‘The discovery of India’ which was looking
backwards deep into the roots of Indian culture, but he (Jawa-
har Lal Nehru) also commissioned Corbusier to invent a new
future through a modern city Chandigarh. Now how do you
bring those two visions together? “
Masonry instruments for studying sky

To know and understand this (JKK) built space, we must understand the context and background it’s
built in and also took inspiration from. We must look back into the past and briefly understand the
principals of Indian science of architecture called ‘Vastu Shastra’ and how it was used in the planning of
the old city of Jaipur.

Architect’s sketch of the museum facade

C O NT EX T & B A CKG R O UND
‘Vastu Shastra’ an ancient science of architecture in India that identified relations between forces
of nature and living in an architectural space. It is about designing a space and eventually buildings,
temples and cities in a way to enable living in harmony with the forces of nature. The basis of Vastu
Shastra when simplified, seems to rest on the following:
Cosmic influence: The heavily bodies in the celestial space influences the activity on the surface of the
earth.
Solar energy: Energy levels and radiations from sunrays is not the same all over the surface of the earth.
Geo-magnetic fields: The magnetic field between the North and the South poles of the earth affects
the bio-organisms.
Geology of the crust: Materials used for the construction and otherwise which can be extracted from
nearby.
Hydrology and Eco-systems: Habitable regions depend on perennial sources of water and the types of
supportive vegetation.
Socio- cultural beliefs: Emergence of the human society from primitive to tribal to organised levels of a
structured society.

Vastupurusha Mandala: Vastu means surrounding environment or nature (Prakriti in Sanskrit).

Purush means energy or soul (Shakti in Sanskrit). Mandala means the astrological chart- which relates
the layout to the orientation, right direction (both in space and in time), right proportion and right
placement. These three collectively, called Vastupurusha Mandala (form-being-diagram), used as a
guide for which activities are best suited for each area of the building. As explained in Mansara*, there
are 32 such versions of the Mandala that can be used in various circumstances with the simplest being
a single square with no subdivisions; the largest has 1024 subdivisions; and the most sacred are the
eight divisions giving 64 subdivisions or the nine divisions giving 81 subdivisions. The Mandala can be
applied when interpreting the scale of a whole city down to understanding that of a house. In simple
words, these squares are the abstraction of cosmos in geometrical form where architecture is perceived
as a bridge between cosmos and the man – the model of “cosmic man” (Vastupurusha Mandala). The
Hindu culture hence devised the cosmic man model for infinite applications in architecture whether it is
at the level of urban design, public buildings or private dwellings.

UP: Old painting showing the ‘Navagraha Mandala’

LEFT: Vastupurusha Mandala diagram

*Mansara: an ancient literature, a Vastu Shastra-

architectural treatise
OL D CITY O F J A I PU R
Taking this thought ahead and with the help of a Bengal priest ‘Vidyadhar
Bhattacharya’, the city plan of Jaipur was the idea thought and drawn by
the Maharaja, a scholar, mathematician and astronomer, Jai Singh the
Second, in the mid-18th century. His city plan was based on the ancient
Vedic Mandala of nine squares which represents the nine planets.
The city of Jaipur stands in a crescent-shaped valley embosomed among
hills on three sides of it, which are strongly fortified by nature, while the
fourth or southern side has no defence except the high city wall. Also, due
to the presence of a hill one of the squares was transposed to the east
and two of the central squares were amalgamated to house the palace,
several of the departmental offices of the state, the astronomical
observatory, and the temples of Brajnandji and Anand Krishnaji.
Jaipur was built with perfect symmetry; its artery nodes are wide; abso-
lutely straight avenues cross broad straight streets at right angle, and the
house-facades along the roads are so designed as to produce a uniform
artistic effect.
Old city lanes

Imitation of ‘Navagraha Mandala’ for the Jaipur city planning

Entry gates inside the city

into individual zones

Topographic map of Jaipur city as planned in 18th Century Old city setup
‘ JK K’ D ESI G N & it ’s rel a ti on wi th th e c on te x t
Charles Correa’s plan for the ‘Jawahar Kala Kendra’ invokes directly the original navagraha’ or nine
house mandala. His ideology was to invoke the underlying construct of the cosmos they are meant to
represent, rather than just mere representation. Correa’s interest in the mandala was insomuch as it
can be used to “structure the environment”. Hence the primary function of the nine square mandala
is “structuring”. However, the question remains why Correa chose to use only the nine square manda-
la and not any other. An immediate response would be that the museum had to accommodate nine
spaces type laid out in the program of the museum. However, this was not the only reason. By using
the nine squares mandala, Correa is also imitating the geometry of Jaipur city.
In the museum, Correa’s direct imitation of the Jaipur city is evident in the displacing of one of its
square from the nine square construct to create a main entrance. Hence on a closer examination one
could suggest that Correa used the nine square Mandala not only as a structuring device but also to
consciously invoke the symbolism of traditional city. Insofar the museum uses it as a structuring princi-
ple, “structuring” becomes the primary function and insofar as the museum imitates the plan of Jaipur
city - the symbolism of the “traditional city model” becomes its secondary function.

‘Jawahar Kala Kendra’ layout plan

 Entrance to the museum

Each of the squares is defined by 8-metre-high walls. The building programme has been “disaggregat-
ed” into eight separate groupings corresponding to the myths represented by that particular planet:
for instance, the library is located in the square of the planet Mercury which traditionally represents
knowledge, and the theatres are in the house of Venus, representing the arts. The astrological symbol
of each planet is directly expressed in a cut-out opening along its external wall. The central square, as
specified in the ‘Vastu Shastra’ is a void: representing the Nothing which is Everything. The flooring
pattern in this square is a diagram of the lotus representing the sun in Hindu mythology. Following list
gives a brief functional programme of the ‘JKK’:

Planet Colour Quality Function

Venus White Art Drama/ Theatre
Jupiter Lemon yellow Knowledge Library (meditation)
Ascending node (Rahu) Iridescent Devourer/ Restorer Documentation
Saturn Earth Red Knowledge Museum II
Descending Node (Ketu) Brown/ Black Anger Museum I
Mercury Golden Yellow Education Lok Kala Kendra
Moon Milky White Heart Cafeteria
Mars Red Power Administration
The materials used have been carefully picked which
can related and reflect to the nature of the space. The
use of local yellow sandstone, red sandstone, lime,
red-rubble, marble, terracotta and other materials, nar-
row passage ways and wide courtyards, frequent open-
ings with connecting vistas, the imitation of step wells
in the courtyard and through many other small details
Correa has carved out this place making it more cultur-
ally belonged to the place and its locals. Correa, with
the help of traditional artists of Rajasthan, re-created
the images from the history on the walls of the museum,
breathing life into it
Hand painted ceiling by local artists, representing different
ancient hindu mathmatical and scientific elements

C O NCL U S IO N
This work of Charles Correa is important not just
because it demonstrates the way ancient science
is balanced with the modern in an architectural
example that is applied. It is significant because
of the way it creates an experience of living the
ancient science in navigating and interacting
through the spaces. It uses symbolism & extends
it into a liveable experience quite effectively by
crafting spaces based on the elements of nature
Chand Boari - one of the oldest and famous step wells near Jaipur
and their symbols.
The reason his buildings look more human, is
that, according to him architecture is a sculpture,
but it is a sculpture used by human beings. So
it needs door and windows, it needs place for
light and air, and those openings don’t spoil the
sculpture, they make it complete. Now, just by
expressing how people use those gestures, give
scale to that abstraction and hence a meaningful
architecture.

The use of reference from traditional architecture is evident through out

the museum
BIBLIOGRA PHY
BOOKS:
- Contemporary Architecture in Asia, KIRA, Seoul, pp.28 – 31
- Contemporary Vernacular, by William Lim & Tan Hock Beng, pp- 66-75
- India Modern, by Herbert J.M. Ypma, pp- 218-229
- World Architecture, A critical Mosaic 1900-2000, vol. 8, South Asia, Ed. Rahul Mehrotra
- A History of Jaipur: C. 1503-1938 by Jadunath Sarkar, Ed. Raghubir Sinh

JOURNALS:
- Charles Correa: Jawahar Kala Kendra’, Light in Architecture, A & D, London
- Pradakshina: The Works of Charles Correa’, Special Report, Approach, Tokyo
- Jawahar Kala Kendra’, Progressive Architecture, New York
- Charles Correa’, by Satish Grover, A+D, Delhi (September 1991)
- Charles Correa’s Architecture by Sarayu Ahuja, Indian Architect and Builder, Bombay (1991)