B 18

The year 1857 is extremely important in Indian history. The first uprising against the British East India Company happened in the United Province and the revolt spread to other parts of the British settlement. The last Mughal in Delhi was unseated and India came under the direct rule of the British Sovereign. The first revolt of the Indian soldiers was triggered when they were asked to bite open the bullet cases coated with animal grease. This was against the religious belief of the Hindu and Muslim soldiers. Interestingly, this was the same year when three major Indian universities were established; Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta Universities.

Sarath Shashi’s relief sculpture symbolically brings these historical incidents together, but obviously without its gore and violence. While the revolt had seen blood and violence, the establishment of the universities helped Indian minds to enter a new battlefield; battle with ignorance using the weapon of education. Though much criticized even today, the British educational system created universal citizens out of the Indian people. Sarath symbolically brings the first war of Independence through the image of a gun and a bullet. In the meanwhile, he gives complete emphasis to an emblematic university building flanked by symbolic logos and trees.