Bharat Insurance building is a

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

building in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. Located on the arterial

Anna Salai Anna Salai (), formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towards St. Thomas Mount, and e ...

, it was built in 1897. Originally known as Kardyl Building, the building is an example of the

Indo-Saracenic Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, or Hindoo style) was a revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government ...

architecture, a hybrid of

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

design with Indian materials. The

Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...

has stayed demolition of the building following a petition from heritage lovers.

History

The building with stained glass panels, domes, spires, arches, verandahs and 100-ft minarets was built in 1897. Once a lively commercial centre, it started deteriorating due to poor maintenance. The ownership changed several hands before it came under the possession of the

Life Insurance Corporation of India Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The Life Insurance Corporation ...

(LIC) in 1956. In 1998, tenants were asked to vacate the premises due to the weakness of the structure, and LIC planned to demolish the building in 2006. The

stayed it after the Indian National Trust for Architectural and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) filed a public interest litigation. INTACH received an interim order to preserve the building. LIC appealed to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

which referred the matter back to the Madras High Court. The High Court issued a comprehensive order in 2009, asking the state government to submit a report on the building and also form a conservation committee to handle protection of other heritage structures. The heritage committee said in its report to the High Court that the building should be preserved, reiterating its heritage value. Meanwhile, LIC filed a petition with the Supreme Court in 2010, citing a technical report to argue that the building is structurally unsound and that it should be allowed to redevelop the property so it will resemble the old building in design. It also stated that the building has not been listed as a heritage structure anywhere and proposed an eight-storeyed complex in its place. The government made an announcement in October 2010 about finalising a heritage bill. The Madras High Court in a landmark judgement in 2010 included the building in a set of 400-plus heritage structures that could not be demolished. The grade 'A' certification was also confirmed.

References

{{coord, 13.065103, 80.267288, display=title Buildings and structures in Chennai Office buildings in Chennai Heritage sites in Chennai

History

See also

References