Hindu GymkhanaKarachi, Pakistan
Designed by the first-known Muslim architect Agha Ahmed Hussain, it was the first public building in Karachi to boldly adopt the Mughal-Revival style. The choice of architect and architectural language is even more interesting because it was commissioned during a period when Karachi did not seem to be affected by communal tension rippling in the subcontinent. The Hindu Gymkhana was a club for the Hindu upper classes who formed a strong commercial elite in Karachi in the years before Independence in 1947. The Hindu community and Seth Ramgopal Gourdhanandh Mohatta contributed money for its construction.
The plan and massing was based on the tomb of Itamad-ud-Daulah (1628) in Agra. The building is small in size and consists primarily of a hall and some smaller rooms used for administrative purposes. Stone for the two-foot thick walls was acquired in Bijapur. The roof line is defined by delicate massing of cupolas and balustrades directly influenced by Akbar's Fatehpur Sikri. The octagonal corner towers framing the projecting central jharoka or porch are capped with chattris (domed kiosks). Smaller chattris highlight the corners of the projecting porch that carry the drooping bangladar roof used in Emperor Akbar's period. The projecting chajjas are supported by ornamental brackets. The cupolas of the chattris are reinforced concrete and the walls are dressed in Gizri stone. Some of the carved elements are of Jodhpur stone.
Since independence, the building has served several functions, including a government office and a police headquarters. The building's condition deteriorated so much that is was slated for demolition in 1984. An intervention by the Heritage Foundation prevented this. In 2005 the National Academy of Performing Arts opened in the site.
Sources:
Ansari, Nuha. 1997. Karachi: Edge of Empire. Karachi: Ferozsons (Pvt) Ltd.,71.
Lari, Yasmeen, and Mihail S. Lari. 1996. The Dual City: Karachi During the Raj. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 328-9.
Designed by the first-known Muslim architect Agha Ahmed Hussain, it was the first public building in Karachi to boldly adopt the Mughal-Revival style. The choice of architect and architectural language is even more interesting because it was commissioned during a period when Karachi did not seem to be affected by communal tension rippling in the subcontinent. The Hindu Gymkhana was a club for the Hindu upper classes who formed a strong commercial elite in Karachi in the years before Independence in 1947. The Hindu community and Seth Ramgopal Gourdhanandh Mohatta contributed money for its construction.
The plan and massing was based on the tomb of Itamad-ud-Daulah (1628) in Agra. The building is small in size and consists primarily of a hall and some smaller rooms used for administrative purposes. Stone for the two-foot thick walls was acquired in Bijapur. The roof line is defined by delicate massing of cupolas and balustrades directly influenced by Akbar's Fatehpur Sikri. The octagonal corner towers framing the projecting central jharoka or porch are capped with chattris (domed kiosks). Smaller chattris highlight the corners of the projecting porch that carry the drooping bangladar roof used in Emperor Akbar's period. The projecting chajjas are supported by ornamental brackets. The cupolas of the chattris are reinforced concrete and the walls are dressed in Gizri stone. Some of the carved elements are of Jodhpur stone.
Since independence, the building has served several functions, including a government office and a police headquarters. The building's condition deteriorated so much that is was slated for demolition in 1984. An intervention by the Heritage Foundation prevented this. In 2005 the National Academy of Performing Arts opened in the site.
Sources:
Ansari, Nuha. 1997. Karachi: Edge of Empire. Karachi: Ferozsons (Pvt) Ltd.,71.
Lari, Yasmeen, and Mihail S. Lari. 1996. The Dual City: Karachi During the Raj. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 328-9.