The Golghar or Gol Ghar (गोलघर), ("Round House") is a large granary located to the west of the

Gandhi Maidan Gandhi Maidan is a historic ground in Patna, near the banks of the Ganges River, in Bihar, India. The Golghar falls to its west. During the period of 1824–1833, under British rule, it was used as a golf course and horse racing track and was c ...

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of Bihar

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, India.

History

According to a contemporary inscription at its base, the Golghar in Patna was intended to be just the first of a series of huge grain stores. In the end, however, no others were ever built. The granary was "part of a general plan … for the perpetual prevention of famine in these provinces". The beehive - shaped structure was designed by John Garstin of the Bengal Engineers, part of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Govern ...

. Its construction was completed on 20 July 1786. A drive to improve the appearance of the structure was begun in 2002.

Architecture

Built in the

Stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

architecture, the building has a height of 29 m. It is pillar-less with a wall of thickness of 3.6 m at the base. One can climb to the top of the Golghar via its 145-step spiral stairway. The spiral staircase was designed to facilitate the passage of the workers who loaded and unloaded the grain in the granary, who had to carry grain-bags up one flight, deliver their load through a hole at the top, and descend the other stairs. The top of the Golghar presents a panoramic view of the city and the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

. Golghar has never been filled to its maximum capacity and there are no plans to do so. Some have claimed that the reason for this is a flaw whereby the doors are designed to open inwards; thus, if it is filled to its maximum capacity, then the doors will not open. However, visitors have found that the doors open outwards. Presently renovation of this historical monument is underway.

In popular culture

Golghar was shown in 2019 Hindi film

India's Most Wanted ''India's Most Wanted'' (IMW) was a crime busting fugitive hunter television show initially on Zee TV and later on DD1, India's national broadcaster Doordarshan. The show was made famous by its Anchor-Director and Producer, Suhaib Ilyasi w ...

Gallery

File:Golghar, Patna, 1888.jpg, Golghar, Patna, painting of 1888 File:Golghar at Bankipur, near Patna, 1814-15.jpg,

Gol Ghar The Golghar or Gol Ghar (गोलघर), ("Round House") is a large granary located to the west of the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, capital of Bihar state, India. History According to a contemporary inscription at its base, the Golghar in Patna ...

, Patna, a 19th-century painting File:Painting of the Golghar Granary (Patna style).JPG,

, Patna 19th century painting File:Golghar in July 2022.jpg, alt=, Golghar in July 2022

References

External links