Designed for Isolation
“The place of isolation can become the place of revolution.” Humans are social beings, if kept in isolation and under torture they will come to end their lives. An architect designs a space to support an individual’s psychological and emotional well-being but not always. The initial idea of building an imprisonment is to discipline a prisoner under surveillance but when such a concept is used to torture and capture freedom fighters such a space witnesses a living hell throughout its lifetime.
A terrific jail designed for Indian revolutionists, freedom fighters, politicians, protesters, etc. is known as the “Cellular Jail” located in southern Andaman Island also called the “Kale Pani Ki Saza”, was built with the idea of isolating and torturing the spirit of freedom fighters throughout colonised India in 1893. It was the brain of a British architect known as Major General Sir Edmund De Cane, his idea was to build such a structure where inmates could not communicate or exchange ideas i.e. to cut off communication completely against British rule in India. It is an unparalleled dreadful structured jail in history to suppress revolution.
Torturous Elements
The architectural structure of the jail is based upon the “Pennsylvania system or Separate system”. Cellular jail the name itself suggests a prison where a prisoner is locked in an isolated cell and is not able to see or talk to anybody. It is a starfish-shaped 3-story building with 7 unequal wings radiating from a centre watchtower, shaped like the wheel spokes. The jail took 10 years to complete (1896-1906). It has 698 cells with each tower facing the back of another building. The watch tower in the middle is inspired by the “Panoptic Theory of Surveillance” given by the British architect Jeremy Bentham in the 1800s when he designed a prison called “Panopticon”. The theory suggests that people will behave better if they think they are being watched all the time, even if they are not. As a result, one guard can monitor all the prisoners in all 7 wings on one floor. Additionally, the prisoners were not able to see the guard but the guard could see all of them. Britishers proposed this type of punishment settlement to develop fear in all the aspiring fighters of freedom that the result would be death and not independence if they chose to follow their renowned revolutionists and protesters but they never succeeded in their intentions.
One cell of the cellular jail measures 13.5 feet x 7 feet with a ventilator at 9 feet 8 inches in height and a 4-foot wide corridor with no toilet facilities within the cell. The corridor was constructed in a linear style and stretched over 131 feet with a jack arch facing the façade. The construction of the jail was done by the prisoners only, from Viper, Navy Bay, Phoenix Bay, Bhirgunj, and Dundas Point from Andamans. About 20 thousand cubic feet of local stone and 30 lakhs of bricks made by prisoners were used and other building material was brought from Burma. The lime for mortar was made by burning raw corals which were collected from the countless coral reefs. The ceiling of the cells had a vaulted brick roof and the flooring had a herringbone pattern all in exposed bricks. One interesting feature of this jail is the locking system of the cells where the latch mechanism is concealed inside the brick masonry and it is almost impossible for the prisoners to escape as their hands will never reach the lock, yet there are great examples of escapism in the history.
The Water of Death to Salvation
Kala Pani was not just a name for demise, it was a belief of thousands of people waiting for their loved ones to return and a hope that the fire of freedom is still ignited. In 1938 the jail was closed after a hunger strike throughout India and also World War II. It was captured by the Japanese and used as a war camp. In 1941 an earthquake hit Andaman and Nicobar Islands hence, 4 out of 7 wings were demolished. Again, after Independence in 1947, the Government of India wanted to demolish the remaining 3 wings due to the scarcity of space on the island for a hospital. The pilgrimage for all Indians was about to disappear from this earth, after a long protest by the freedom fighters themselves, their descendants, and their followers in 1979 the Prime Minister of India declared the building as the National Memorial and in 2002 the site was recognized as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
At present, this place has one wing as an original jail, and the remaining two wings are converted into a hospital along with a national museum displaying all the pieces of evidence of the struggles, tears, hardships, torture, and pain that our ancestors suffered to get freedom as their birthright. The place hosts a light and sound show to showcase the injustice done to us by the British for our future generations to remember that freedom was not free, it had cost us our loved ones. Britishers want us to forget the concept of independence but they forgot that they are dealing with the Incredible Indians.
Online sources
Citations for websites:
Unesco(2014). Tentative lists. [online]. (Last updated 15 April 2014). Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5888/ [Accessed 25 August 2024].
Amrit Mahotsav. Blog detail. [online]. Available at: https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/blogdetail.htm?103 [Accessed 25 August 2024].
Savani Heritage. Cellular Jail. [online]. Available at: 14-CellularJail.pdf (savaniheritage.com) [Accessed 25 August 2024].
Vivel Lall(2024). Cellular Jail. [online]. (Last updated 24 January 2024). Available at: https://www.tropicalandamans.com/cellular-jail/#:~:text=Cellular%20jail%20is%20located%20about,attached%20to%20the%20jail%20complex. [Accessed 25 August 2024].
Wikipedia(2024). Cellular Jail. [online]. (Last updated 29 June 2024). Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_Jail [Accessed 25 August 2024].
Guruchandra Tours and Travels. Cellular jail- Light and Sound Show. [online]. Available at: Cellular Jail – Light and Sound Show | Guruchandra Tours and Travels (gcandamantravels.com) [Accessed 25 August 2024].
Images/visual mediums
Citations for YouTube videos:
Sansad TV. (2020). Grand Structures: The Cellular Jail. [YouTube video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk7AVsV9WFs [Accessed 25 August 2024].
