Project Overview
This project explores the intertwined stories of tradition, technological change, and environmental transition in Arjangarh, a unique Delhi locality. Central to this is the Guru Shyam Lal Akhara, whose wrestling traditions sustain physical culture, community connections, and ancestral practices amid rapid urban change. It also highlights Arjangarh’s strategic military role, marked by a Cold War-era defense installation, and its proximity to the ecologically vital Delhi Ridge. Using immersive fieldwork — including visits, drawing, painting, ambient sound and video recordings and photography — this work examines how akharas function as living vessels of local history, endurance and adaptation. The resulting multimedia installation brings to life these connected stories of place, body, and memory, inviting audiences to engage with heritage as a dynamic, layered fabric shaped by complex urban forces.
Expected Impact
By mapping syntheses between traditional wrestling, military legacy and shifting landscapes in Arjangarh, this project aims to reconceive heritage as a living, layered archive — one continuously shaped by embodied practice, technological transformation and environmental change. The anticipated impact extends beyond documentation, offering a sensory and conceptual space to encounter the intricate interplay of physical discipline, strategic history, and contested terrain. Through a multimedia installation integrating drawings, sounds and stories, the work prompts reflection on how urban identities are both formed and challenged by intersecting, often invisible forces over time. The project activates the lived experience of place, encouraging critical awareness of how heritage is routinely negotiated, reinvented and sometimes threatened amidst urban acceleration.
Applicant Background
I am Arindam Manna (b. 1994), a visual artist working between New Delhi and West Bengal, India, whose multidisciplinary practice explores the interplay between place, movement and time. Working across Drawing, Painting, Photography, Video and Installation, I investigate how spaces transform and how human perception shapes our understanding of environment and identity. The roots of my artistic practice can be traced to "Transience and Materiality" (2018-2020), a project focused on mobility and impermanence along the Grand Trunk Road in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. My methodical approach combines immersive fieldwork with meticulous mark-making processes, creating visual records between representation and abstraction.