The Golghar ("Round house"), located to the west of the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, capital of Bihar state, India. It is a granary built by Captain John Garstin, in 1786. After the devastating famine of 1770, which killed nearly 10 million people in regions of Bengal, Bihar and modern day Bangladesh, Warren Hastings, then Governor-General of India, ordered the construction of this beehive shaped structure for the purpose of storing grains for the British Army. It was conceived and built by Captain John Garstin, an engineer with the East India Company, and has a storage capacity of 140000 tons, it construction was completed on 20 July 1786. A drive to improve the appearance of the structure was begun in 2002.
The
architecture
Built in the native stupa architecture,
the building has a foundation of 125m, and a height of 29 m. It is pillarless
with a wall of thickness of 3.6 m at the base. One can climb atop the Golghar
through the 300 steps of its spiral stairway around the monument. The spiral
staircase was designed so as to facilitate the passage of the coolies, 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 wonderful
panoramic view of the city and the Ganges flowing nearby. At time of its
construction, it was the tallest building in Patna.
One interesting fact about the
Golghar is that never in its existence has it been filled to its maximum
capacity and there are no plans in future as well. The reason for this is that
due to oversight while designing and construction of the Golghar, the doors
were designed to open inside. Thus, if it is filled to its maximum capacity,
then the doors will not open.Presently renovation of this historical monument
is in underway in supervision of renowned engineer Mr. Nishant Kumar.
ABOUT OF NALANDA
Nalanda was an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India. The site of Nalanda is located in the Indian state of Bihar, about 88 kilometers south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from the fifth or sixth century CE to 1197 CE.Nalanda flourished between the reign of the Śakrāditya (whose identity is uncertain and who might have been either Kumara Gupta I or Kumara Gupta II) and 1197 CE, supported by patronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers as well as Buddhist emperors like Harsha and later emperors from the Pala Empire.
The complex was built with red bricks and its ruins occupy an area of 14 hectares. At its peak, the university attracted scholars and students from as far away as Tibet, China, Greece, and Persia. Nalanda was ransacked and destroyed by Turkic Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khiji in 1193. The great library of Nalanda University was so vast that it is reported to have burned for three months after the invaders set fire to it, ransacked and destroyed the monasteries, and drove the monks from the site. In 2006, Singapore, China, India, Japan, and other nations, announced a proposed plan to restore and revive the ancient site as Nalanda International University.
