Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk is a cultural cauldron of old and new and where the traders are busy with their business activities in the midst of urban din. In this busy place stands an elegant 80 foot tall 4- story heritage building that houses SBI's branch. It is said to be the oldest branch of SBI in Delhi, and one of the largest in the country till date. Within its stretch of less than two miles there are five heritage, besides some significant places.
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| SBI building, Chandini Chowk, Delhi. flickr.com |
The 19th century building is so architecturally rich and tempting any passerby on the street will never fail to take a second look at the structure that stands apart in this area that thrives on modernity.
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| Old SBI building, Chandini Chowk, Delhi indiatimes.com |
Above image: Old SBI building, Chandini Chowk, Delhi: The attractive architectural elements are its imposing Palladian style of structure with Corinthian columns, balustrade terrace, arched doorways, spiral iron staircase, old English lifts, tinted glass windows. Built in 1806 the building witnessed both joyous as well as painful and poignant events in the history of India's freedom struggle..................
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| Old SBI building, Chandini Chowk, Delhi discoveringdelhi.travel.blog |
Above image: Historical features of the building having been almost lost, the walls, windows, tiles, none of them were worthy of retention any more. As part of conservation work , special care was taken to chose construction materials matching those used in the 1800s. Engineers used lime plaster on the wall interior, in the façade and upper veranda, wrought iron railings in the place of existing railings and wooden windows replacing the concrete screens. Most importantly special care was taken to repair the main banking hall. It was restored without compromising on its historical character. Also referred to Bhagirath Palace, it was built in a garden gifted by Mogul ruler Akbar Shah to the Begum when he ascended the throne after the death of Shah Alam in 1806.
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| Begam Sampu's palace (bank of Delhi) in 1857. upload.wikimedia.org |
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| SBI and Chandini Chowk firstpost.com/ |
When the first war of independence of 1857 broke out in Meerut cantonment and had begun to spread to other places like Lucknow, Kanpur and Delhi, During that tempestuous and turbulent Delhi siege time the SBI building site in Chandini Chowk became a scene of savage killing and mayhem. On May 16, 1857 about noon the then General Manager, George Beresford and his family of six were caught in the middle of hell-bent mobs and killed on the roof of .the building. They were buried in the St James Church, Delhi and a plaque had been put up in their memory.
Once the building was part of Begum Joanna Nobilis Samru’s estate, often referred to as Samru's kothi. She was the wife of Austrian mercenary soldier Walter Reinhardt ‘Sombre’ who came to India to fight for Qadir Khan. He met his would be wife at a kotha in Chawri Bazaar and the young Kashmiri Dancer Farzana later married the Austrian and became Begum Samru. Being gregarious, she became a famous socialite in those days.
It was in 2002 this historical building got the heritage tag as it was a silent witness to many important political events. because of the heritage tag no structural or constructional changes would be allowed in the building which might damage the heritage features. However, when minor changes were made in the past such as repairs of the stained glass windows and replacement of the classic spiral iron staircase special care was taken by the renovation team to compromise on the quality of construction without disturbing the heritage values. However, a part of the building was demolished as it was unfit for renovation.
Quite keen to retain the heritage aspect of this building INTACH - the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage in 2003 issued orders and asked the owners - SBI not to undertake any unethical constructions or changes in the building in the future without informing the authorities concerned.
https://rediscoveringdelhi.travel.blog/2020/05/08/sbi-chandni-chowk-the-hidden-heritage/
