The World Through a Lens
Documenting India’s Distinctive Birdhouses
For seven years, a photographer based in Delhi has collected images of ornamental structures known as chabutras. Here are some of his favorites.
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Some years ago, while exploring Bhuj, a small city in Gujarat, India’s westernmost state, I stumbled upon a beautiful and initially enigmatic structure: a column that supported an enclosure adorned with hundreds of holes. It seemed to me to be a geometric abstraction of a giant tree — until a pigeon peeped out from one of the openings.
Soon there were hundreds of birds flying in and out of the grand birdhouse. Locals informed me that the structure was called a “chabutra.”
Over the course of my initial four-month stay, and afterward, during follow-up visits throughout Kutch, the district that includes Bhuj, I began documenting the beautifully crafted birdhouses — taking photographs, collecting local narratives and recording people’s memories associated with the structures.
The old bird towers I encountered were made of wood and stone. Newer specimens are mostly made of concrete and are much more colorful and vibrant. Each design is different.
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