Raja Deen Dayal (1844-1905) (The Legendary Photographer) Permanent Gallery Lalbagh Palace, Indore

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aja Deen Dayal distinguished himself from the Indian and British contemporary photographers by the virtue of his aesthetic and technical merit. At a time when the British had a monopoly over the new field of photography imported from the west. Deen Dayal made quick inroads to the realm of the royalty and the elites. He was becoming one of the most sought after photographers for one and all and even for the ladies of both elite and other rungs of the society who were keen to have themselves portrayed by the master in his Zenana studio especially catering to the women in purdah.

The Raja Deen Dayal collection was acquired by the IGNCA in 1989 and has since been one of the most cherished collections amongst users and scholars.

The advent of this collection in IGNCA coincided somewhat with my own and I was fortunate to be a part of the team who received this collection at the old building of IGNCA at the Mansingh road.

As the truck from Hyderabad was being unloaded with the collection materials which was acquired from the great grand children, the legal heirs of Deen Dayal, we all were excited to see each piece of the studio furniture made out of Burma teak and the colossal Belgium mirror used by Deen Dayal in his studio for makeup of his clients before the final shoot.

The enormity of the volume of the collection, its archaic materials comprising old photographic prints on paper (POPs), Glass plate negatives, albums, studio registers, equipments and the antique studio furniture was overwhelming for an uniniated like me.

The Black and White photographs of the Maharajas, Nawabs, Viceroys, the royal court scenes and the courtesans conjured up images from the never ending tales I had heard from my father and grandmother who had witnessed these accounts personally being in the close proximity of the royal courts themselves.

The anecdotes of the lavish lifestyles of the Rajas, their innumerable wives and courtesans, their big game hunting expeditions their idosyncrancies and the palace intrigues all seemed to be revived through the images captured by Raja Deen Dayal in his unwieldy, cumbersome bellows camera, now a part of the IGNCA collection.

The idea of recreating the studio of Raja Deen Dayal was a long lingering thought in my mind since we acquired this collection but this dream did not materialise due to the multiple shifting of premises of the archives between the three buildings of the centre.

It was only when Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, who joined IGNCA as the Member Secretary lent his full support and encouraged us to go ahead that this notion of a gallery with the recreated Deen Dayal Studio could be translated into reality.

The gallery was visited by the Hon'ble Speaker Loksabha in May, 2017 who appreciated Deen Dayal's work displayed at IGNCA and suggested we also bring such an effort to Indore, from where Deen Dayal began his photographic journey.

One of the main objectives of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is to provide reference material for research. To serve as a comprehensive resource centre it has a Reference Library and Cultural Archives. The IGNCA has collected and compiled 30 odd personal and other collections of great scholars in the Cultural Archives. It has significant photographic collections of photographers of National and International repute whose keen eye documented the various cultural aspects of India.

Collections of stalwarts such as Sunil Janah, Shambhu Saha and Henri Cartier Bresson have been acquired over the past three decades. The jewel in the crown is the Raja Deen Dayal Collection which is a rare and unique collection of antique photographs of the legendary lensman, a photographer in the royal court of Nizam VI of Hyderabad, Mahboob Ali Pasha. The collection has more than 2500 glass plate negatives, studio registers, equipment, studio furniture, old albums and journals housed in the Cultural Archives of IGNCA.

Deen Dayal is a distinguished name in the History of Indian photography. His technique and aesthetic eye which captured the lives and events of India of his times made him stand apart from co-professionals both from India and Britain.

He received the well deserved patronage of the British as well as the Indian princes and notables.

His first patron was Maharaja Tukoji Rao II of Indore who introduced him to the British political agent Sir Henry Daly who further opened new doors for him finally leading him to be the Court Photographer of Vith Nizam of Hyderabad Mahboob Ali Pasha. The gallery of Raja Deen Dayal's works at Lalbagh Palace is borne out of IGNCA's gallery at New Delhi which was visited by the Honourable Speaker Lok Sabha, Smt Sumitra Mahajan who reacted very positively to our gallery at IGNCA and suggested that we open one at the Lalbagh Palace, Indore.

Deen Dayal began his career as a photographer from the state of Indore hence it has several images of the state, its people and landscapes including those of other parts of Madhya Pradesh such as Jhansi, Gwalior, Mhow and Mandu.

I hope these photographs will be of interest particularly to the public of Indore as it takes them back to the times of their ancestors of which probably they have only heard.

I am happy that we could bring the selected photographs related to Indore and Madhya Pradesh to this gallery and also extremely grateful to Mrs. Mahajan whose kind & generous thought has been behind this entire project.

I am also happy to share that the Directorate of Archaeology, Archives and Museums, Government of Madhya Pradesh extended full support in completing this project.

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