ABSTRACT
One of the widely celebrated highlights of Geddes’ work, a colorful endeavor often described, took place during his long planning commission to Indore, in 1918. Geddes was invited by Maharaja of Indore, to plan an extension for the city, which he did, on Garden City lines (as he did elsewhere in India). 1 During his long stay of six months at Indore, Geddes took on the task of treating the malaria which plagued the city. For this chance of local improvement, both urban and moral, Geddes employed a traditional festival, the annual Diwali. Having already commended traditional cleaning habits and bestowing upon them similar goals as those of modern town planning, the festival was a unique opportunity for cleansing the city on several planes. 2 Receiving full support for his initiative, Geddes became “Maharaja for a Day” and conducted the annual Diwali as “a civic pageant, a town-planning procession.” 3
