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Medieval And Colonial Capital Cities Of DelhiDESCRIPTIONNEW DELHIThe British Empire was at its zenith at the beginning of the 20 th century, when they built their colonial capital cityto the south‐west of the Mughal city of Shahjahanabad.The city of New Delhi extends to the walls of Shahjahanabad in the north, is bounded on the east by the RiverYamuna, the remains of Ferozshah Kotla and Purana Qila, and to the west by the ridge. The city deliberately formsseveral links with the older cities, most importantly, the central vista that is conceived as a landscaped stretchforming continuity between the ridge and the river. One of the avenues, the Parliament Street is linked to thesouthern side/edge of Shahjahanabad and visually to Jama Masjid, while the central vista, beginning at theRashtrapati Bhavan ends at the north gate of Purana Qila (the inner citadel of the city of Dinpanah that flourishedas the 6 th city of Delhi).Colonial New Delhi, designed on a radial plan by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker is spread over 2,800 hectaresand makes up for about 1.8 per cent of the area of Delhi today. The site had a width of about 4.5 miles,narrowing as it approached Old Delhi to 2.5 miles. The city reflects the fusion of the two dominant themes ofearly twentieth century city planning – the City Beautiful (vistas) and the Garden City (verdure). The genius ofNew Delhi till today is in its integration of vista and verdure.The most notable feature of the city is Rajpath (the grand central axis, called the “Central Vista”) anchored by theRashtrapati Bhavan at its western end and the Sports Stadium at the eastern end. One of the major nodesconceived by Lutyens for the Central Vista was the hexagonal ring road with the ceremonial arch, India Gate, andthe canopy, within the hexagonal landscaped area and the Princes’ Park (palaces of princely states) surroundingit.The focus of the British Colonial capital is the formal centerpiece, Rajpath (originally called Kingsway) runningeast‐west, radiating from the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Raisina Hill, flanked by the secretariat buildings on eitherside passing the hexagon that has the war memorial, known as the India Gate, and the Princes’ Park and ending atthe National Stadium towards the east. The focus point, the Rashtrapati Bhavan is sited on Raisina Hill,commanding views of the new city on every side and is flanked by the large blocks of Secretariat buildings facingRajpath. The great open space at the base of Secretariat is known as Vijay Chowk and marks the beginning of theadministrative centre of the city. The chowk approximately as wide as 260 ft, forms a cross‐axis at the foot ofRaisina and is also where the 'Beating Retreat' ceremony takes place on 29th January ever year. From Vijaychowk, a road perpendicular to Rajpath, leads to the Parliament House towards the north. Approximately 30mwide water channels surrounded by parkways and trees along Rajpath, on either side, add to the central vista’sgrandeur and also facilitate activities like boating, especially in the months of Feb‐April and Oct‐Nov when the cityis neither too hot nor cold.The width of this ceremonial avenue is such that twelve rows of trees are planted across the street, providingshade, as mentioned above. An extension of the symmetry that characterised the principal buildings of New Delhiis seen in the tree planting. The disciplined setting and framing of the principal buildings like the RashtrapatiBhavan, the Secretariats and the Law Courts is a result of the matching tree species flanking the streets.At the eastern end, the central vista terminates in a large hexagon, that has the iconic India Gate and 100m fromthere, a chhatri (canopy) that stands in the middle of a large pool of water, placed right in the centre of thehexagon. The hexagon has landscaped greens and a children’s park. Radiating from the hexagon are avenues, aswide as, 70 ft.31‐07‐2012 INTACH, Delhi Chapter 14
Medieval And Colonial Capital Cities Of DelhiDESCRIPTIONThe outer periphery of the hexagon is known as the Princes’ Park, as it is surrounded by the palaces of the mostpowerful Indian Princes, who were allotted lands within this prime location. In all, three dozen lots (of about eightacres each) were leased out to the princes. The most powerful states – Hyderabad, Baroda, Bikaner, Patiala, andJaipur – were given lots forming a ring around the canopy on King’s Way. Lesser princes (including those ofJaisalmer, Travancore, Dholpur, and Faridkot) were given lots further out along the roads radiating from thecentral hexagon. Hyderabad House is the first palace to appear as one moves clockwise around the hexagonalround‐about from India Gate. Right next to it is another palace in buff sandstone, the Baroda House. Movingahead is Patiala House which lies between Tilak Marg and Purana Qila Road. Although part of the Princes’ Parkarea, the National Stadium, designed by R. T. Russell of the Public Works Department (PWD) falls next,approximately 400 ft away from the canopy which appears right opposite. The Dhyan Chand National Stadium,built in 1933 is used as a multipurpose stadium serving international and national events all along the year. Thissite along the eastern end also marks the culmination of the central vista, which radiates from the main entranceof the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Traversing along the outer hexagon, situated between Sher Shah Road and Dr ZakirHussain Marg is the Jaipur House, after which appears Bikaner house, located between Shahjahan Road andPandara Road.The main cross axis, Janpath was the Queensway of British New Delhi, and it runs from north to south connectingConnaught Place, the commercial hub in the north to a circle south of Rajpath, at the southern end of colonial,New Delhi (near Lodhi Garden). It is marked by the presence of two buildings viz. the National Archives and theNational Museum. On the roads leading out of Connaught Place are other equally important buildings, bothmodern as well as colonial. There are, for example, pre‐Independence buildings like the Eastern and WesternCourts; the Imperial Hotel, New Delhi’s first luxury hotel opened in 1931,and though nondescript on the outside,is home to one of the best collections of British art on India. The Eastern and Western Courts stand on either sideof the broad Janpath Road, south of Connaught Place.The road was often compared with the Champ Elyse's ofParis because of the beautiful buildings along it.A diagonal axes links Rajpath with the Parliament House. The Church of the Redemption is located on ChurchRoad, sandwiched between Parliament House on its west and the Jaipur Column on its north. North of this areaare largely institutional buildings with some government housing. The 'Cathedral of the Sacred Heart' also knownas the 'Sacred Heart Cathedral Church' is a Roman Catholic Church situated at 1 Ashok Place between SaintColumbus School and Convent of Jesus and Mary. Directly opposite the Sacred Heart Cathedral, standing in themiddle of a traffic circle, is the Gole Dak‐khana (literally, ‘round post office) General Post Office (GPO). Further afield, are other colonial buildings like the Gole Market.The area to the north of Rajpath, is filled with several institutional buildings and residential bungalows, built tohouse public servants of a lower rank. Some of these were designed by Herbert Baker and other by the PublicWorks Department. This area is wholly and completely of twentieth century vintage with a few exceptions.Scattered across it – and in an often unusual but pleasing juxtaposition of old and new – are older monuments:Agrasen ki Baoli which is a step‐well dating back to the fifteenth century and the impressive observatory known asJantar Mantar that was built in the eighteenth century. Though not as old as either the baoli or the observatory,are the Hanuman Mandir and Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, both medieval buildings that were already in existencewhen Connaught Place was built. Lutyens effortlessly integrated these structures into his plan for the new city.Lutyens' most important contribution was however not the buildings he designed but the layout of the city thatremains unchanged. His street plan for New Delhi has wide, tree‐lined avenues, with bungalows in large garden31‐07‐2012 INTACH, Delhi Chapter 15
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