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Rashtrapati Bhawan (The President House)
The Viceroy Palace remains Lutyens most significant
achievement. It is befittingly the crowning glory
of the British Empire and architecture in India.
Today, it is perhaps India’s best known monument
after the Taj Mahal and the Qutub Minar. Bigger
than the Palace of Versailles, it cost a whopping
£12,53,000 and now houses the President of
India. It is unquestionably a masterpiece of symmetry,
discipline, silhouette, colour and harmony. of course,
it has come in for much criticism too but that has
mostly been limited to the imperial intent behind
it rather than its architecture.
Better
known now as the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the sprawling
palace straddles the crown of Raisina Hill and
is the focal point of New Delhi. The majestic
Rajpath (earlier Kings Way) leads up to the palace
on Raisina Hill and here comes into view the one
fatal flaw in design. Lutyens and Baker had a
major showdown about the height of the slope approaching
the palace which was at that time caricatured
as the ‘War of the Gradient’. Lutyens
wanted the palace to come into view as one climbed
Raisina Hill. Unfortunately, Baker miscalculated. |
Parliament House of India
If it were not for the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms of
1919, the Parliament House may not have been built.
It’s corny how the building most indispensable
to modern Indian democracy came up as an afterthought.
Earlier called the Circular House, it was added to the
layout at a later stage following the reforms which
created a large Legislative Assembly.
This edifice is the brainchild of Herbert Baker and
was much criticized in comparison with Lutyens creations.
An article by Robert Byron in Architectural Review,
January 1931describes it thus: "The Council Chamber
has been Sir Herbert’s unhappiest venture. Its
effect from a distance has been described. It resembles
a Spanish bull-ring, lying like a mill-wheel dropped
accidentally on its side."
The Massive Structure
To the northwest of Vijay Chowk, this huge circular,
colonnaded building comprises three semicircular chambers
for the Legislatures and a Central Library crowned by
a 27.4m high dome. It is 173m in diameter and covers
2.02 hectares in area, with colonnaded verandahs enclosing
the entire circumference. The three semi-circular areas
were designed for the Chamber of Princes, the Council
of State and the Legislative Assembly. Today they house
the chambers of the Lok Sabha (House of the People),
Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and the library. A verandah
with 144 columns surrounds the three chambers. The boundary
wall has blocks of sandstone carved in geometrical patterns
that echo the Mughal jalis.
An entry pass to the library can be obtained from the
Visitor’s reception on Raisina Road by providing
a letter of introduction from a Member of Parliament.
The library working hours are from 1000-1800. To obtain
a visitor’s pass to Sansad Bhawan, Indian nationals
should apply to the Parliament Secretariat. Foreign
nationals should apply through their embassies or high
commissions.
India gate:-
India Gate is constructed as a memorial and
was built in the memory of 90,00 soldiers who laid down
their lives during world war I. Located at Rajpath,
India Gate is 42 m high and is popular relaxation area
during the summer evenings. India Gate also act as popular
pinic spot during winter. Also known as the All India
War Memorial, India Gate was designed and constructed
by Lutyens. He was the who is considered the chief proclaimer
in designing the New Delhi plans.
Jeevan Bharati Bhawan
Though we’d be the first to acknowledge that the
towering Jeevan Bharati Bhawan in Connaught Place is
a splendid creation in glass, stone and metal; it did
seem a tad out of place next to the low-lying Connaught
Place. When the building came up in the 1980s, architect
Charles Correa was criticized for making it too futurist.
Over the years of course, other skyscrapers loomed large
over Connaught Place’s horizon and the controversy
died a natural death. Today there are many high rise
structures in CP: the DLF Centre and New Delhi Municipal
Corporation’s Palika Bhawan, on Sansad Marg, and
the Le Meridian Hotel and State Trading Corporation
on Janpath to name a few.
King George V Memorial
The Attraction of Cenotaphs
Facing the elephantine arch of India Gate is a classical
version of the chhattri or cenotaph so dear to Hindu
kings and the sure symbol of regality in India. Lutyens
perhaps designed it as a token gesture to keep the King
who wanted oriental features happy. But chances are
he would still have preferred to describe it as an open
cupola or a baldachino.
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