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The Parliament House (
IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...
: ) in
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...
is the seat of the
Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of ...
. Its houses the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...
and the
Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
which represent lower and upper houses respectively in India's
bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...
parliament. At a distance of 750 meters from the
Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati B ...
, it is located on Sansad Marg which crosses the Central Vista and is surrounded by the
Vijay Chowk Vijay may refer to: People *Vijay (name) * Vijay (actor) (born 1974), an Indian Tamil actor *Vijay (director), Kannada film director Fiction * ''Vijay'' (1942 film), a 1942 Indian Hindi film * ''Vijay'' (1988 film), a 1988 Indian Hindi film dire ...
, India Gate(All India War Memorial),
National War Memorial (India) The National War Memorial (Hindi: , ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Samara Smāraka'' ; ) in India is a national monument built to honour and remember soldiers of the Indian military who fought in armed conflicts of independent India. The names of armed ...
, Vice President's House,
Hyderabad House Hyderabad House is an official residence in New Delhi, India. It is the State Guest House of the Prime Minister of India. It is used by the Government of India for banquets, and as a venue for meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries. It ...
, Secretariat Building, Prime minister's office and residence, ministerial buildings and other administrative units of Indian government. The building was designed by the British architects
Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memor ...
and Herbert Baker and was constructed between 1921 and 1927. It was opened in January 1927 as the seat of the
Imperial Legislative Council The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...
. Following the end of British rule in India, it was taken over by the
Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
, and then by the Indian Parliament once India's Constitution came into force in 1950. A new building to house Parliament is under construction directly opposite the current building as part of the Indian government's Central Vista Redevelopment Project.


History

Originally called the
House of Parliament
', it was designed by the British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1912-1913 as part of their wider mandate to construct a new administrative capital city for India. Construction of the Parliament House began in 1921 and it was completed in 1927. The foundation stone was laid by HRH
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 185016 January 1942), was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He served as G ...
, in February 1921. It took five years to complete the building. On 18 January 1927, Sir
Bhupendra Nath Mitra Sir Bhupendra Nath Mitra ( Bengali: ভূপেন্দ্র নাথ মিত্র) (October 1875 – 25 February 1937) was an Indian government official and diplomat who served as the third Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom ...
, Member of the Governor-General's Executive Council, in charge of the Department of Industries and Labour, invited Lord Irwin
Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...
to open the building. The third session of Central Legislative Assembly was held in this house on 19 January 1927. Two floors were added to the structure in 1956 due to a demand for more space. The Parliament Museum, opened in 2006, stands next to the Parliament House in the building of the Parliamentary Library.


Description

The perimeter of the building is circular, with 144 columns on the outside. At the centre of the building is the circular Central Chamber, and surrounding this Chamber are three semicircular halls that were constructed for the sessions of the Chamber of Princes (now used as the Library Hall), the State Council (now used for the
Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
), and the Central Legislative Assembly (now used for the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...
). The parliament is surrounded by large gardens and the perimeter is fenced off by sandstone railings (''jali''). Some sources speculate that the design of the building was inspired by the Chausath Yogini temple in
Morena Morena is the headquarter city of Morena district, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is governed by a municipality corporation. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Chambal division. It is from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. G ...
. The current building is planned to be converted into a ''Museum of Democracy'' after the new Parliament House is operational.


Parliament House (New)


Background

Proposals for
new parliament building
to replace Parliament House emerged in the early 2010s as a result of questions being asked about the stability of the original structure. In 2012, a committee was assembled by the then-
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
, Mira Kumar, to suggest and assess several alternatives to the usage of the building.


Commencement

In 2019, the Indian government launched the Central Vista Redevelopment Project, a multi-billion dollar project to redevelop th
Central Vista
India's central administrative area near
Raisina Hill, New Delhi Raisina Hill (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Rāyasīnā Pahāṛī''), often used as a metonym for the seat of the Government of India, is an area of New Delhi, housing India's most important government buildings, ...
. The construction of a new parliament building, as well as redeveloping the Rajpath will create a new office and residence for the Indian prime minister, as well as combining all ministerial buildings in a singl
central secretariat
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new building was held in October 2020 and the foundation stone was laid on 10 December 2020.


Incidents


2001 terror attack

The 2001 Indian Parliament attack was a terrorist attack on the Parliament of India in New Delhi, India on 13 December 2001. The perpetrators belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) - two Pakistan-raised terrorist organisations. 3] The attack led to the deaths of six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel, and a gardener – in total 9 – and led to increased tensions between India and Pakistan, resulting in the 2001–02 India–Pakistan standoff. The 5 terrorists were killed outside the parliament.


Gallery

Lord Mountbatten addressing the Chamber of Princes.jpg, Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Lord Mountbatten addressing the Chamber of Princes as
Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...
in 1947. A Constituent Assembly of India meeting in 1950.jpg, A
Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...
meeting in 1950. Jawaharlal Nehru addressing the constituent assembly in 1946.jpg,
Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...
addressing the constituent assembly in 1946. Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai listens to Jimmy Carter as he addresses the Indian Parliament House. - NARA - 177385.tif, Indian Prime Minister
Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...
listens to U.S President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
as he addresses the Indian Parliament House in 1978. Barack Obama at Parliament of India in New Delhi addressing Joint session of both houses 2010.jpg, U.S President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
addressing Joint Session of the Parliament in 2010. File:Obverse of the 10 Rupees silver coin of 1972, commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Independence (1947—1972), featuring male and female figures standing (the man carrying Indian National Flag) before the Parliament of India building.jpg, Indian Parliament House building depicted on the obverse of the 10 Rupees silver coin of 1972, commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Independence (1947—1972).


See also

*
List of political parties in India India has a multi-party system. The Election Commission of India (ECI) accords recognition to the national level and the state level political parties based upon objective criteria. A recognised political party enjoys privileges like a reserve ...


References


External links

* {{commonscat-inline, Sansad Bhavan Parliament of India Government buildings in Delhi Herbert Baker buildings and structures