The Bathing Ghat in Bulandshahr is a stone platform with steps positioned between four domed towers on the banks of the Kali River in Bulandshahr, India. Its foundation stone was laid in 1878 under the supervision of British district magistrate and collector for the Indian Civil Service, Frederick Growse. It was completed in 1880. Within a few years of construction, it had become a site for local festivals and displays of fireworks, particularly at

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

Origin

The bathing ghat at Bulandshahr is a stone platform with steps positioned between four domed towers on the banks of the Kali River. Growse, F. S
''Bulandshahr; or, Sketches of an Indian district; social, historical and architectural''
Benares: Medical Hall Press, 1884. p. 67 Its foundation stone was laid on 1 November 1878 under the supervision of British district magistrate and collector for the Indian Civil Service, Frederick Growse. An executive engineer informed the British government in India that it would be an "eye-sore" and in visual obstruction of the bridge, resulting in a two-year delay of construction.

Structure

The towers are made from stone brick and each have eight sides, with red sandstone panels set in frames of white stone. Two panels display the names of those who made financial contributions to the building of the ghat; listed in order of amount donated. Opposite the ghat, further steps were built. The river serves as a boundary to the east of Bulandshahr, and the bridge receives the main roads entering the town, resulting in the towers forming a landmark site for approaching visitors. Each tower is topped with

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

and

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

over a plinth that provides support to a dome-topped open

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

. The height of each tower is ; two are on land and two are at the edge of the water.

Cost

The total cost was , of which was raised by the municipality; the rest was raised by the public.

John Lockwood Kipling John Lockwood Kipling (6 July 1837 – 26 January 1911) was an English art teacher, illustrator and museum curator who spent most of his career in India. He was the father of the author Rudyard Kipling. Life and career Lockwood Kipling was b ...

noted that Growse had ensured it was locally financed, built in adherence to traditional Indian practices, and was "untouched by European training". The most expensive part of construction was creating the deep wells for the tower foundations. An appendix in Growse's ''

Bulandshahr; or, Sketches of an Indian district; social, historical and architectural ''Bulandshahr: Or, Sketches of an Indian District: Social, Historical and Architectural'' is an 1884 book written by Frederic Growse, a district magistrate and collector for the Indian Civil Service, about the district of Bulandshahr in the North ...

'' (1884) displays the names of those that provided finances for the building of the ghat.

Function

Within a few years of construction, it had become a site for local festivals and displays of fireworks, particularly at

Gallery (2023)

File:Bulandshahr bathing ghat morning view.png, File:Bulandshar bathing ghat with steps.tif File:Bulandshahr bathing ghat and bridge over Kali Nadi.tif File:Bulandhar bathing ghat and Kali Nadi river.tif File:Bathing ghat, Bulandshahr, Growse.jpg, Inscription (Growse)

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline Ghats of India Bulandshahr Buildings and structures completed in the 1880s