page_title: Ghantaghar
section_title: The Caravanserai and Town Hall
hierarchical_section_title: Ghantaghar / The Caravanserai and Town Hall
caption_attribution_description: English: "A street scene in the imperial City," a commercial photo by Jadu Kissen, acquired by a visitor in 1910
context_page_description: Ghantaghar 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. The term "Chandni Chowk" 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. Today, it is an open and congested area. The Delhi Town Hall is located just to the north of this site.
  It was perhaps the oldest clock tower in India, constructed before Rajabai Clock Tower, Mumbai, 1878, Husainabad Clock Tower, Lucknow, 1881, Secunderabad Clock Tower, Secunderabad, 1897 and Allahabad Clock Tower, Allahabad,1913. While the clock tower is long gone, the location is still termed Ghantaghar within Old Delhi.
  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. It is still a very popular spot for organizing protests.
context_section_description: 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." 
  The serai was demolished perhaps even before the ghadar of 1857. The serai was replaced by the Victorian-Edwardian architecture  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.’
caption: "A street scene in the Imperial City," photo by Jadu Kissen, acquired by a visitor in 1910, as viewed from Nai Sarak
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