Madhuri Desai, associate professor of art history and Asian studies at Penn State, recently published the book "Banaras Reconstructed: Architecture and Sacred Space in a Hindu City" (University of Washington Press, 2017). ... The book addresses Banaras, the Hindu center of northern India, and its evolution through architecture and urbanism. A venerated religious site and destination for tourists and pilgrims, Desai grapples with the nature of the city as a built environment and a cultural space. Although the city is described as the oldest living city in the world, its architecture largely dates from after the 16th century, which suggests that the city was rebuilt.

“The city is recreated during centuries of Indo-Islamic rule and exchange, and the architecture is a product of these confluences and tensions between communities and religions,” explained Desai. “It’s the story of a city — a complex story, but it is one that needs to be told.”

Desai incorporates pilgrimage texts, contemporary histories, architecture, and imagery into her thorough history of Banaras. Unpacking the motivation behind this architectural revivalism, she reveals the connection between architecture and identity.