COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE

IN INDIA
 COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA

• Indo-Saracenic also known as Indo-Gothic,

was a style of architecture used by British
architects in the late 19th century in British
India. It drew elements from native
Indian/Indo-Islamic architecture, and
combined it with the Gothic revival style
favoured in Victorian Britain.
• When the British first came to India, they
considered themselves the legitimate rulers
of India rather than its conquerors, so they
sought to justify their presence by relating
themselves to the previous rulers, the
Mughals.
• By doing this they kept elements of British
and European architecture, while adding
Indian characteristics; this, coupled with the
British allowing some regional Indian princes
to stay in power, made their presence more
'palatable' for the Indians.
• The British tried to encapsulate India's past
within their own buildings and so represent
Britain’s Raj as legitimately Indian, while at
the same time constructing a modern India
of railways, colleges, and law courts.
 COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA

As mentioned before, it is fundamentally British

with Indian characteristics including

• onion (bulbous) domes

• overhanging eaves
• pointed arches, cusped arches, or scalloped
arches
• vaulted roofs
• domed kiosks
• many miniature domes
• domed chhatris
• pinnacles
• towers or minarets
• harem windows
• open pavilions or pavilions with Bangala
roofs
• pierced open arcading

F.S.Growse, Sir Swinton Jacob, R.F.Chisholm

and H.Irwin were the pioneers of this style of
architecture.
 COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA

• The Chepauk Palace in Chennai designed

by Paul Benfield is said to be the first Indo-
Saracenic building in India.
• Other outstanding examples of this style of
architecture include the Law Courts,
• Victoria Memorial Hall,
• Presidency College and Senate House of
Chennai,
• Muir College at Allahabad,
• Napier Museum at Thiruvanthapuram
• the Gateway of India in Mumbai,
• the Maharaja's Palace at Mysore and
• M.S.University and Lakshmi Villas Palace at
Baroda.
 COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
•The architecture of New Delhi was the IN INDIA
crowning glory of the British Raj.
•Robert Byron described New Delhi as
"The Rome of Hindostan".
•The British built New Delhi as a
systematically planned city after it was
made the capital in 1911.
•The British Viceroy made Sir Edward
Lutyens responsible for the overall plan of
Delhi.
•He was specifically directed to
"harmonise externally with the traditions of
Indian art".
• Thus, the Western architecture with
Oriental motif was realised with chajjas,
jalis and chhattris, as stylistic devices in
the Viceroy's House (now Rashtrapati
Bhawan).
• Herbert Baker added the imposing
buildings of the South Block and the North
Block, which flank the Rashtrapati
Bhawan.
•Another Englishman called Robert Tor
Tussell built the Connaught Place and the
Eastern and Western Courts.
 COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA
COLONIAL DELHI
•The European involvement in India
through the 1920s and the 1930s
bought architect Le Corbusier and the
Art Deco movement to India.
•Fusion has been a consistent feature
of modern Indian architecture—for
example Indian elements of chhajja
(wide roof overhangs), jaali (circular
stone apertures) and chhatri (free-
standing pavilions) were intermixed
with European architecture during the
construction of the Rastrapati bhavan.
•This neoclassical project—which also
contained a stupa like dome—was
overseen by Sir Edwin Landseer
Lutyens and the Indian Institute of
Architects
 COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA
VICTORIA TERMINUS
•The Victoria Terminus, once the
headquarters of the Great Indian
Peninsular Railway, was the
culminating masterpiece of the phase.
•It was increasingly hybrid in style. The
Classical and Baroque style furthered
the innovation in architecture.
•Its best exponent was Walter
Carnville's Calcutta General Post
Office. The innovation in colonial
architecture did not stop here
• in Victoria Memorial, William
Emerson tried to emulate the Taj Mahal
in material if not in form.
•This was an indication of 'Indo-
Saracenic' hybridization and was being
increasingly employed at different
places like St. John's College, Agra
and the Madras High Court, Madras.
 COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA
VICTORIA TERMINUS
•The Victoria Terminus, once the
headquarters of the Great Indian
Peninsular Railway, was the
culminating masterpiece of the phase.
•It was increasingly hybrid in style. The
Classical and Baroque style furthered
the innovation in architecture.
•Its best exponent was Walter
Carnville's Calcutta General Post
Office. The innovation in colonial
architecture did not stop here
• in Victoria Memorial, William
Emerson tried to emulate the Taj Mahal
in material if not in form.
•This was an indication of 'Indo-
Saracenic' hybridization and was being
increasingly employed at different
places like St. John's College, Agra
and the Madras High Court, Madras.
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA
MYSORE MAHARAJA PLACE
 COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA
GATEWAY OF INDIA, MUMBAI
 COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA
VICTORIA MEMORIAL,KOLKATTA
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
IN INDIA
RIPPON BUILDING, CHENNAI