Threads, Calligraphy & Cuisine in Nawabi Lucknow

Introduction of Lucknow & Revisiting Nawabs – Wazid Ali Shah
Morning Arrival in Lucknow, Hotel Check-in
2pm to 3pm – Introduction of Lucknow
3pm to 6pm: Nawab Story Unfolded- Lectures & Site visits
Kaiserbagh Palace was once the most beautiful palaces anywhere, with well laid landscaped gardens, gilded domes and minarets that added to the overall beauty of this huge palace complex. It indeed did not have any parallel anywhere in the world. No doubt, the palace complex was envied by outsiders and made natives proud. Kaiserbagh Palace Complex was in fact the most well planned works of grandeur by Wajid-Ali-Shah, the last ruler of Awadh, who himself was a great connoisseur of art in all its forms and the same innate personality reflected in his palace.

Kaiserbagh later became a victim of British revenge, after the failed Indian Mutiny in 1858 when the British forces recaptured sieged Lucknow, Begum Hazrat Mahal and her son Birjis Qadr fled to Nepal and Wajid-Ali-Shah was deposed and left for Calcutta. As a consequence and revenge of the toughest time that the British forces had here, Kaiserbagh was unmindfully demolished. Today sadly, only a few structures remain to be seen and it is indeed very hard to imagine that once it was, the world’s most beautiful palace complex.

On this agenda, we explore the Kaiserbagh Palace Complex, reconstruct the area with the help of old pictures and maps and as a cherry on the cake, we treat you over a cup of tea at the Kotwara House, that is a small part of Kaiserbagh, now an abode of the film maker Muzaffar Ali. We peep inside an intact portion of this palace, where along with your tea, you also enjoy watching a clip from his classic film, ‘Umrao Jaan’, that in fact was inspired by the culture of Lucknow and was extensively shot in Kaiserbagh.
7.30pm – Dinner

Threads of Lucknow – A workshop on Chikankari
9am to 4pm – Lucknow has been a center of great embroideries, that have survived the strong winds of change to flourish even today. Chikan for example, is an art that provides livelihood to so many women in and around Lucknow, empowers them to be a part of the thriving local economy,  upplements their household income and above all keeps the traditional craft alive. Men on another hand, contribute their finesse to other forms of embroidery, Zari and Aari in particular.

These are mostly done at the small studios within the homes of designers, on big wooden frames with many men working together on a single piece to churn out an exquisite example of craft. Another high-point is that this embroidery has bound the two diverse communities of Hindus and Muslims together in Lucknow, where both live in utmost peace and harmony. This is a result of a delicate economic relationship shared by them. Hindu trading community, referred to as Rastogis, sell the embroidered craft, while Muslims are involved as craftsmen.

How awesome it is to learn about this craft from the men and women at a designer’s studio on a half-day hands-on experiential sojourn. Each guest gets a personal embroidery kit to learn the craft, a talk is delivered by a designer and guests are taught this intricate embroidery.

5pm to 8pm – The Gastro Routes of Lucknow – Food from Nawabs to British & Present – A lecture by Food expert followed by Food walk which will help in understanding and learning food through a cooking class next day

Revisiting Lucknow from 1857-58 – Lucknow Mutiny History through stories and visiting centres of mutiny with history experts and scholars.
9am to 2pm –
Lucknow on the west of river Gomti, 42 miles east of Cawnpore and 610 miles from Calcutta, was the capital of the province of Oudh. It was annexed, in 1856, and this very fact became the root cause of the mutiny here. If the British rule were flexible and if at all it respected the local sentiments, the course of history would have been quite different. Oudh had been the nursery of the company’s infantry. Its population was armed, militarised and it provided soldiers for more than just British interests. Nawab’s extensive court and his army had been disbanded. Some 200,000 men, all the supporting services, the armourers alone numbering 12000, as well as dispossession of many landowners & talukdars of their rights & powers, happened to be the worst mistake of the British. This threw still more armed men out of employment, but skilled to fight against the perpetrators of their misery the British. While the arrival of Sir Henry Lawrence as the Chief Commissioner of Oudh in time would have been a game changer and could have made the people of Oudh fall in line with the British, but this happened late and by this time the air in Oudh was all charged up to lay an all out siege in May 1857.

On this very exclusive curate workshop – ‘Revisiting Lucknow of 1857-58’, we take you through the routes followed by Henry Havelock, James Outram and Colin Campbell. We visit the areas that were in focus during the siege of Lucknow. We try and understand how this siege progressed to a conclusive end, but not without sacrifices from both the warring fronts.

2pm -3pm – Lunch
3pm to 7pm – Workshop on Calligraphy
Calligraphy is one of the most ancient arts of the world. It is an art of writing words or phrases in a captivating forms and style. Quitabat is a highly eminent form of artistic expression in the Muslim culture. It is important because it is derived from the holy book of Quran. Calligraphy became an instrument for expressing the God’s words which were recorded in Arabic script. Since the craft inclined towards the Muslim culture and tradition therefore it is practiced mainly by the Muslim communities and that to mainly by the men. Number of Muslim artists, as calligraphers, paper makers, illustrators and binders are involved in this art. Islam got introduced as a religion in the country after the coming in of the Mughal Empire. They used various ways and mediums to decorate their buildings, manuscripts, paintings, textiles, metal and ceramic ware, carpets etc.

In Lucknow the art form flourished during the period of the Nawabs. Different verses from Qurans were written on either paper or precious/ semi-precious stones in artistic form and decorated in palaces, homes etc. It is believed that a person wearing such kind of stone having verses written on it in calligraphy will face no misfortune in life. He will gain the ultimate position in the society. Presently the craft is practiced by few people settled in different places in and around

Lucknow. Artisans are creating artistic pieces in Quitabat in Jarnailganj, Lucknow.
7pm to 8pm – Dinner

Calligraphy Workshop & La-Martiniere Decoded
8am to 12 noon – Lucknow Calligraphy Workshop
12 noon – 2.30pm – La-Martiniere Decoded
A castle that could never be used to live, is a French imprint in Lucknow and narrates a story of how a Frenchman, Claude Martin rose to become Maj General in the British East India Company and all about his marshal deeds and charity that converted it into one of the most prestigious schools of India. This magnificent architecture stands on the banks of river Gomti and has absolutely no equal in India. Believe it or not, this is a school that received many honours, including ‘The Battle Honours’ for the defence of Residency in 1857.

We would explore La Martiniere on this curated workshop and we would get a chance to enjoy tea and snacks at the school canteen or a specially arranged session at the school. On this very exclusive workshop – ‘La Martiniere Decoded’, we take you on a walk through the campus of La Martiniere, visit the hidden corners to understand not only its history, but also to understand the education and administrative systems followed by the school. Decode La Martiniere with us !
2.30pm to 3.30pm – Lunch
4pm to 8pm – Awadhi Cuisine Workshop: Learning Foods from Nawabs Kitchens through a cooking class.
Lucknow is famed for it`s cuisine and Awadhi cuisine is known worldwide for its delicate use of spices , herbs and oils. Learn few art of making kababs and curries straight from the Kitchen of Nawabs. An expert food expert/chef will deliver a lecture on richness and uniqueness of Awadhi food, history, evolution.
8pm – Dinner.

7am to 9am – Breakfast & Feedback.Departure.