Iconographia
5135 Kanch Mandir, Il tempio degli specchi
Texts by Riccardo Lazzeri and Antonio Martinelli
1979 / 96 PAGES.
Language: Italian edition
The fabulous jewel of Indore, Kanch Mandir (literally “Temple of Glass”) is presented here by Riccardo Lazzeri and Antonio Martinellu, the two photographers who so skilfully captured the sparkling and unique nature of Sir Hukamechand Jain’s design.
While in Europe the gaiety of the Belle Époque was dying out in the Great War massacres, Sir Hukamechand Jain, a wealthy magnate from the juta of Indore (Central-Northern India), was spending part of his profits in the purchase of a colossal amount of multi-coloured glass and mirrors. To glorify God and his own family, he hired four creative Iranian artists to cover every inch of a modest 17th-century Jain temple with these panels, turning it into a gigantic, sparkling Art Deco jewel.