Ghantaghar (literally clock-tower) is a location in the center of Chandni Chowk, Delhi, where an iconic clock tower, termed Northbrook Clocktower during early 20th century, stood. The clock tower was built in 1870 and stood there until its partial collapse and subsequent demolition in 1950s.[1] The term "Chandni Chowk" (translation: silvery or moonlit square) originally referred to this location which later came to designate the entire street. The Ghantaghar location has been regarded as the center of Delhi, and even now serves as a center for major civic events.[2] Today, it is an open and congested area. The Delhi Town Hall is located just to the north of this site.
Ghantaghar was the location of some of the events relating to the Indian's freedom movement. On 30 March 1919, many protesters were killed by the British soldiers.[4] It is still a very popular spot for organizing protests.
The old city of Delhi was laid out by princess Jahanara Begum, who constructed an elegant caravanserai on the East side of the street with gardens in the back. Herbert Charles Fanshawe, in 1902, mentions about the serai:
"Proceeding up the Chandni Chauk and passing many shops of the principal dealers in jewels, embroideries, and other products of Delhi handicrafts, the Northbrook Clock Tower and the principal entrance to the Queen's Gardens are reached. The former is situated at the site of the Karavan Sarai of the Princess Jahanara Begum (p. 239), known by the title of Shah Begum. The Sarai, the square in front of which projected across the street, was considered by Bernier one of the finest buildings in Delhi and was compared by him with the Palais Royal, because of its arcades below and rooms with a gallery in front above. Bernier was of opinion that the population of Delhi in 1665 was much the same as that of Paris, a striking instance of how the population follows the court in the East. The gardens must at one time have been extremely beautiful specimens of eastern pleasure retreats, and even now are very pretty."[5]
The serai was demolished perhaps even before the ghadar of 1857. The serai was replaced by the Victorian-Edwardian architecture [6] building now known as the Town Hall, and the pool in the middle of the square was replaced by a grand clock tower. The Town Hall was actually planned before the Revolt, and was built in 1860-5, as a center for the Europeans and was initially called the Lawrence Institute. The Institute contained a Darbar Hall with a public library and reading rooms. According to MCD, the Town Hall had been planned to serve as an office for the municipality, chamber of commerce, a literary society and a museum to ‘improve the local minds and to forward intercourse between Europeans and natives.’ [7]
"A street scene in the Imperial City," photo by Jadu Kissen, acquired by a visitor in 1910, as viewed from Nai Sarak
The Northbrook Clock tower
In front of Lawrence Institute, in the center of the Chandni Chauk, a 128 feet tall lofty Gothic clock-tower with four faces were constructed.[8]
Built by Delhi Municipality at a cost of Rs. 28,000, it was formally termed the Northbrook Clocktower.[9] after Thomas Northbrook, the Viceroy of India from 1872 to 1876. Northbrook hotel, a famous hotel near the Moree gate was also named after him. The tower is said to have been 80 years old when it collapsed, implying its construction occurred in 1870.
It was actually standing in 1870 already according to Alfred Harcourt who wrote in 1870:[10]
Facing the Delhi Institute on the Chandni Chowk side, is a handsome and well-finished Clock Tower with four faces, and a chime of five bells. The City is indebted for this useful as well as ornamental structure also to the Municipal Committee at a cost of Rupees 25,500. It is 128 feet above the ground.
It is said that the pigeons sat on their hands so that it never showed the correct time. When Lord Northbrook visited Delhi, he did not quite like the architecture.[11]
Statue of Queen Victoria
Inside the railings of the street a Statue of Queen Victoria, the late Queen Empress of India was placed by Mr. James Skinner, a grandson of Colonel Skinner, C.B. in front of the Municipal building. [5]
The bronze statue of Queen Victoria stood between the tower and the municipal building in 1902. [12] also image on cover [13] The statue of Queen Victoria was later moved to Delhi College of Art [14]
Partial collapse and dismantling
When India became independent on 15 August 1947, GhantaGhar, was lit up for the occasion and the Union Jack on the top was replaced by a tiranga.[15]
The upper part of the tower collapsed in 1950, killing some local citizens. That resulted in a court case Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Subhagwanti, AlR 1966 SC 1750 [16] Mr. Chakravarty, the Municipal Engineer, mentioned that the building was 80 years old and the expected life of the structure of the top story, considering the type of mortar used, could be only 40 to 45 years, and the surviving middle story could be saved for another 10 years. The High Court also took into consideration the statement of a Mr. Puri that when he inspected the building after the collapse and examined the mortar, he found that the mortar was reduced to powder without any cementing properties.[17]
The Municipal Corporation later allocated 2 lakh in 1957 for rebuilding, however, the structure had come to be known as an English relic, and thus it was never rebuilt.
Legacy
The clock tower in Sabzi Mandi, Ramrup Tower, 1941, was inspired by the Ghantaghar tower, and it survives to this day.[18][19]
In popular culture
An old song recalls the clocktower (ghantaghar) that once stood in the center, and India's freedom struggle ( video search):
घंटाघर की चार घड़ी, चारों में ज़ंजीर पड़ी, जब भी घंटा बजता था, खड़ा मुसाफिर हंसता था। हँसता था वो बेधड़क आगे देखो नयी सड़क | नयी सड़क पर बुआ बाजरा आगे देखो शहर शाहदरा | शहर शाहदरा में लग गयी आग आगे देखो गजियाबाद | गजियाबाद में फूटा अंडा उसमे से निकला तिरंगा झंडा | झन्डे से आई आवाज़ इंक़लाब ज़िन्दाबाद ||
It recalls the satyagrah by Swami Shraddhanand in the 1930s near the Ghantaghar. Close the site, now his statue marks the event. The events are recalled in Ek Delhi Aur by Rajendra Sharma in the voice of a kan-mailya (ear cleaners of old Delhi)[20]
Jahanara Begum was a Mughal princess and later the Padshah Begum of the Mughal Empire from 1631 to 1658 and again from 1668 until her death. She was the second and the eldest surviving child of Emperor Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal.
The Chandni Chowk is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, India. It is located close to the Old Delhi Railway Station. The Red Fort monument is located at the eastern end of Chandni Chowk. It was built in the 17th century by the Mughal Emperor of India, Shah Jahan, and designed by his daughter, Jahanara. The market was once divided by canals to reflect moonlight. It remains one of India's largest wholesale markets.
Sadar Bazaar is the largest wholesale cosmetics jewellery market of household items in Old Delhi, Delhi, India.
Old Delhi is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. The construction of the city was completed in 1648, and it remained the capital of Mughal India until its fall in 1857, when the British Empire took over as paramount power in the Indian subcontinent.
Sarai Kale Khan is a village in South East Delhi district in Delhi. This is a Gurjar village of clan Basista/Bosatta. This place is remotely connected to other parts of Delhi through the means of Delhi Metro Pink Line. It also has Inter-State Bus Terminus. It is adjacent to the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. It is one of the five main stations in Delhi and is the originating and terminal station for 60 trains. Sarai Kale Khan is the terminus for most buses heading for towns south of Delhi. It is also a DTC bus depot for the Mudrika Seva and many other bus routes.
Merewether Clock Tower or Merewether Tower is a neo-Gothic clocktower built during the Victorian era in Karachi, Pakistan. The tower is a landmark in central Karachi, and is at the termini of two of the most important roads in central Karachi: Muhammad Ali Jinnah Road and I. I. Chundrigar Road. The tower used to mark the boundary of the city when arriving from the port at Kiamari, and marked the dividing line between Karachi's Old Town and its newer European quarters to the east. It currently is the westernmost point of the Serai Quarter.
Vijay Goel is an Indian politician and a former Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Statistic and Implementation in the NDA government. A former Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Goel is affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He became president of the Delhi unit of the BJP in February 2013. He was elected to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in 2014.
Ghanta Ghar literally means Hour House in Hindi–Urdu, implying Clock House or Clock tower. There are several Ghanta Ghars in India, Nepal and Pakistan.
Clock Tower, Multan, locally known as Ghanta Ghar, Multan is a clock tower and city government headquarters of Multan in the Punjab province of Pakistan.
Delhi Junctionrailway station is the oldest railway station in Old Delhi, Delhi, India. It is one of the busiest railway stations in India in terms of frequency. Around 250 trains start, end, or pass through the station daily. It was established near Chandni Chowk in 1864 when trains from Howrah, Calcutta started operating up to Delhi. Its present building was constructed by the British Indian government in the style of the nearby Red Fort and opened in 1903. It has been an important railway station of the country and preceded the New Delhi by about 60 years. Chandni Chowk station of the Delhi Metro is located near it.
Swami Shraddhanand, also known as Mahatma Munshi Ram Vij, was an Arya Samaj sannyasi and an Indian Independence activist who propagated the teachings of Dayananda Saraswati. This included the establishment of educational institutions, like the Gurukul Kangri University, and played a key role on the Sangathan and the Shuddhi (purification), a Hindu reform movement in the 1920s.
Phool Waalon Ki Sair meaning "procession of the florists" is an annual celebration by the flower sellers of Delhi. It is a three-day festival, generally held in the month of September, just after the rainy season in the region of Mehrauli. It is seen as an example of the composite culture of Delhi, which has bolstered an environment of communal harmony in the city, and even today the festival is celebrated by both Hindus and Muslims alike.
Lala Chunnamal Ki Haveli is a rare haveli surviving in a well-preserved condition within the Old Delhi area.
Indraprastha College for Women, also known as Indraprastha College or IP College, is the oldest women's college in Delhi, India. Established in 1924, it is a constituent college of University of Delhi.
The Delhi Town Hall is a landmark building, at Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi. It was the seat of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) from 1866 during the British Raj till late 2009, when offices shifted to the new MCD Civic Centre on Minto Road in Central Delhi formally inaugurated in 2010.
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Chandni Chowk is a 1954 classic Muslim social drama film directed by B. R. Chopra.
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