Patna Secretariat, also known as Patna Sachivalaya or Old Secretariat, is the administrative headquarters of the state

Government of Bihar The Government of Bihar, known locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Bihar and its 9 divisions which consist of 38 districts . It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a jud ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is located in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

's capital city of

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. ...

. This building is situated between two iconic buildings of the city,

Raj Bhavan Raj Bhavan () is the common name of the official residences of the governors of the states of India and may refer to: List of Raj Bhavan See also * Raj Niwas *Rashtrapati Bhavan *Rashtrapati Nilayam *Rashtrapati Niwas The Rashtrapati Niwas ...

in the west and

Patna High Court The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915. The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, In ...

in the far east.

Location, architecture and design

Patna Secretariat is a mighty Victorian construction located to the east of the Raj Bhavan in Patna. Built by the British in the Indo-Sarcenic style, it was completed in 1917. It is 716 feet long 364 feet wide and remains one of the largest government buildings of the City. A huge clock tower stands tall amidst the beautiful and green lawn of the place. Originally, it was 198 feet high, but a part of it fell down during the

1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

. Currently, its height is 184 feet from the ground. A four-foot gap left between the concrete ceiling and the outer covering of tiles from Raniganj ensures a reasonable temperature in the interiors during the hot season. The campus has lawns and other remarkable things, such as bronze statue of the first Chief Minister of Bihar, Bihar Kesari

Srikrishna Sinha Shri Krishna Sinha (21 October 1887 – 31 January 1961), also known as Shri Babu, was the first chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar (1946–61). Except for the period of World War II, Sinha was the chief minister of Bihar from the tim ...

to the west of Lawn and the Martyr's memorial to commemorate the sacrifice of seven students during 1942 August Kranti movement. Patna Secretariat Building is one of the remarkable buildings of the city of Patna, known for its architectural splendor. It was designed by the famous architect of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Joseph Munnings and built by

Martin Burn Martin Burn Limited is a Real Estate Development firm based in Kolkata. History The history of Martin Burn Limited, generally referred to as Martin & Burn Co. goes back to 1890, when Sir Rajen Mookerjee in partnership with Sir Thomas Acquin Ma ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

during 1913–17. It stands distinct from any other historical building of the city by its tall clock tower. Today, this is the Secretariat of

State Government. It is a bustling center with all types of government activities. All the important government departments, such as Home, Finance, General Administration, Cabinet Secretariat etc. are situated here so do the office of the ministers and the bureaucrats.

References

{{Patna Administrative headquarters of state governments in India Buildings and structures in Patna Government of Bihar 1917 establishments in India Government buildings in Bihar