The Gateway
There are many famous gates in the world built to celebrate military victories or to proclaim national prestige. Obvious ones include the Brandenburg Gate, the Golden Gate (known as the Gate of Mercy in Jerusalem) and Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe at 49.5 metres high. Not to be outdone by France, North Korea’s Pyongyang’s Arch of Triumph finished in 1982 is three metres taller! However, at 54 metres high, the Buland Darwaza built in 1576 AD by Mughal Emperor Akbar is the highest gateway in the world. The pictured gate makes no pretences or grand claims but is simply evocative of ‘secret gardens’ and of things that are beyond. Every gate is there for a reason but not every gate is noticed nor is the reason for it being there always understood.
- ‘Still round the corner there may wait a new road or a secret gate’ – J R R Tolkien