OUDH ARCHITECTURE

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
AR. KAJAL GARG MEGHA ,NADEEM , ASIF
ASFI IMAMBARA COMPLEX
ENTRANCE GATEWAYS

BADA IMAMBADA

BHUL BHULAIYA

BAOLI

MOSQUE

RUMI DARWAZA
 TWO ENTRANCE GATEWAYS
ON NORTH-SOUTH AXIS
TRIPLE ARCHED ENTRANCE GATEWAYS.
ARCHES HAVE 9 CUSPS.

FIRST GATEWAY LEADS FROM THE

FIRST COURTYARD TO THE SECOND.
SECOND COURTYARD
SQUARE PLAN
CIRCULAR GARDEN IN THE CENTRE
ENCLOSED BY ARCADED
CLOISTERS.

SECOND GATEWAY ,SIMILAR TO

THE FIRST LEADS TO THE MAIN
COURT WITH THE IMAMBARA
PLACED ON THE SOUTH END OF
THE QUADRANGLE.
 BADA IMAMBARA
 IT IS BUILT BY ASAF-UD-DAULAH, NAWAB OF LUCKNOW, IN 1784,
TO PROVIDE SUCCOUR TO THE FAMINE STRICKEN PEOPLE.
ALSO CALLED THE “ASAFI IMAMBARA”.
BARA MEANS BIG, AND AN IMAMBARA IS A SHRINE BUILT BY SHIA
MUSLIMS.
IMAMBARA :
BUILDING IN WHICH FESTIVAL OF MOHARRAM IS CELEBRATED,
SERVICE IN COMMEMORATION OF SHAHADAT OF ALI AND HUSSAIN
PERFORMED AT THE SEASON,
SOMETIMES USED AS A MAUSOLEUM FOR THE FAMILY OF THE
FOUNDER,

ASIA’S LARGEST HALL WITHOUT ANY EXTERNAL SUPPORT OF WOOD,

IRON OR STONE BEAMS.
BADA IMAMBADA-
A GREAT HALL BUILT AT THE END OF A SPECTACULAR COURTYARD.
APPROACHED THROUGH TWO MAGNIFICENT TRIPLE- ARCHED
GATEWAYS.
THE HALL IS ASIA'S LARGEST WITHOUT ANY EXTERNAL SUPPORT OF
 FEATURES
LUCKNOW- A MARVEL OF INDIAN ARCHITECTURE
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AWADHI ARCHITECTURE
ARE THE ABSENCE OF IRON AND BEAMS,
THE USE OF VAULTED CEILINGS,
MULTIPLE ENTRANCES ON FACADES,
PARAPETS ON ROOFS.
THE BADA IMAMBARA IS AS IMPRESSIVE AS I’D EXPECTED.
THE ROOF OF THE CENTRAL HALL IS ENTIRELY WITHOUT ANY
SUPPORT.
THIS IS EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT THERE IS
NO IRON IN THE CANTILEVERED ROOF: THE 49.7 M BY 16.6 M SPAN IS
MADE ENTIRELY OF LAKHAURI BRICKS, HELD TOGETHER WITH
MORTAR.
THE MAIN IMAMBARA CONSISTS OF A LARGE VAULTED CENTRAL
CHAMBER CONTAINING THE TOMB OF ASAF-UD-DAULA.
BHULBHULAYAH (LABYRINTH)

PRESENT IN THE MAIN IMAMBARA BUILDING.

8 SURROUNDING CHAMBERS BUILT TO

DIFFERENT ROOF HEIGHTS, PERMIT THE SPACE
ABOVE THESE TO BE RECONSTRUCTED AS A
LABYRINTH---- “BHULBHULAYAH”

, WITH PASSAGES INTERCONNECTING THROUGH

489 IDENTICAL DOORWAYS

CAME ABOUT UNINTENTIONALLY TO SUPPORT

THE WEIGHT OF THE BUILDING.
 MOSQUE

ASFI MOSQUE WITHIN THE

IMAMBADA COURTYARD ELEGANT
STRUCTURE FLANKED BY A GRAND
FLIGHT OF STEPS LEADING TO ITS
PAVED FLOOR.

LOCATED IN THE WEST OF THE

MAIN COURTYARD.

DUE TO QUIBLA ORIENTATION

(TOWARDS MECCA) ITS AXIALITY
STRIKES A DISCORD WITH THAT OF
THE BARA IMAMBARA. JUST AS
ENORMOUS AS THE BARA
IMAMBARA ITSELF.
SHAHI BAOLI (STEP WELL)

A BAOLI CONSISTS OF TWO PARTS:-VERTICAL SHAFT FROM WHICH

WATER IS DRAWN, SURROUNDING INCLINED SUBTERRANEAN
PASSAGEWAYS, CHAMBERS AND STEPS WHICH PROVIDE ACCESS TO
THE WELL.
COOL, QUIET RETREATS DURING SUMMERS.
CHAMBERS IN SOME BAOLIS ARE SEVEN OR EIGHT LEVELS BELOW
THE GROUND LEVEL.

FIVE- STORIED BAOLI (STEP WELL) CALLED THE SHAHI-HAMMAM

(ROYAL BATH),
BAOLI IS CONNECTED WITH THE RIVER GOMTI.
ONLY FIRST TWO STORIES ABOVE WATER, THE REST BEING
PERENNIALLY UNDER WATER.
USED AS A HIDING PLACE.
USED AS SUMMER PALACES DUE TO NATURAL COOLNESS
“SHAHI BAOLI”-EASTERN SIDE OF THE ASAFI IMAMBARA COMPLEX.
DEEP CIRCULAR WELL AT THE EASTERN END. APPROACHED
THROUGH A FLIGHT OF STEPS AND A DOOR FACING WEST.
RECTANGULAR PLAN. MATERIAL---- LAKHAURI BRICK AND LIME
RUMI DARWAZA
OR THE TURKISH
GATE
HEIGHT-- 60 FEET.
UPPERMOST PART- OCTAGONAL
CHATRI (UMBRELLA) CARVED
BEAUTIFULLY,
APPROACHABLE BY A STAIRCASE.
THE WORD "ROOMI" IS DERIVED
FROM THE MODERN DAY ROME
THAT USED TO BE ISTANBUL
(CAPITAL CITY OF EASTERN
ROMAN EMPIRE).
FINEST GATEWAY BUILT IN
LUCKNOW.
HIGHLY INSPIRED BY A SIMILAR
GATEWAY IN ISTANBUL.
SURMOUNTED BY AN ELABORATE CUPOLA.
FLANKED BY LOW CURTAIN WALLS PIERCED BY
CUSPED WINDOWS.
OCTAGONAL BASTIONS AT THE SIDES.
FLORAL MOTIFS CROWNING THE APEX OF THE INNER
ARCH.
BOLD AND BROAD LOTUS PETALS ALTERED BY SOLID
TURRETS WITH FLORAL PATTERNS ON THE OUTER
ARCH. MUGHAL ELEMENT IS NOTICEABLE IN
MINARETS, CROWNED BY OCTAGONAL CHHATRIS.
APEX OF THE OUTER ARCH CROWNED BY AN
OCTAGONAL DOMED KIOSK, ADDING SYMMETRY AND
GRANDEUR. WESTERN SIDE OF GATEWAY-3 ARCHED
OPENINGS.
  DILKUSHA KOTHI, LUCKNOW, (1805)
• CONSTRUCTED FOR THE NAWAB SAADAT ALI KHAN IN THE YEAR 1805.
THE KOTHI WAS BUILT ON THE LINES OF EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURE WITH ITS DESIGN
BEING PROPOSED BY GORE OUSELEY.
THE BEAUTY OF THE KOTHI WAS ENHANCED BY BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS AS WELL,
WHICH INCLUDED THE WOODS AND A RIVER.
• THE KOTHI WAS USED AS A HUNTING PLACE BY THE NAWABS BECAUSE OF THE FORESTS
AROUND AND ALSO AS A VENUE FOR OUTINGS FOR THE BEGUMS AND THE FEMALES OF THE
ROYAL FAMILIES.
• LAKHAURI BRICKS PLASTERED WITH LIME MORTAR WERE USED IN IT’S CONSTRUCTION.
THE EXTREMES OF THE KOTHI WERE KNOWN TO HAVE TOWERS THAT FURTHER HAD
CIRCULAR STAIRCASES IN THEM.
A SERIES OF STEPS LED TO THE ENTRANCE OR THE MAIN DOORWAY OF THE PALACE.
• THE DILKUSHA KOTHI WAS ORIGINALLY A THREE STOREYED STRUCTURE WITH A PART
BASEMENT.
IT HAD FOUR ORNAMENTAL OCTAGONAL TOWERS WITH GLAZED POTTERY TOPS.
BENEATH A PORTICO SUPPORTED BY TALL PILLARS AS HIGH AS THE ROOF OF THE SECOND
STOREY. • THE BUILDING HAD PATTERNED WALLS AND UNUSUALLY NO INNER COURTYARD
AS WAS TRADITIONAL IN INDIAN ARCHITECTURE.
THE BUILDING THEREFORE HAD A SMALLER FOOTPRINT AND DID NOT EXTEND OVER A
LARGE AREA BUT WAS TALLER THAN TRADITIONAL LOCAL ARCHITECTURE.