Connaught Place In India’s New Capital Delhi – 2 Postcards 1950
Two 1950 photo postcards of Connaught Place in India’s new capital Delhi. Connaught Place or CP for short is one of the upmarket shopping centers in New Delhi. Named after the Duke of Connaught Prince Arthur who attended the 1903 Delhi Durbar in place of King Edward VII. Robert Tor Russell the then chief architect of the New Delhi PWD was entrusted with the designing of the Connaught Place market.
The building’s semi-circular design was inspired by the Royal Crescent at Bath, UK. It was completed in 1933. The British Indian government awarded the planning of Delhi to Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. While Edward Lutyens and Henry Baker were entrusted with the bigger task of designing the new capital from scratch. The designing of CP became the responsibility of Robert Tor Russell.
Delhi would displace Calcutta to become the new capital of India. King George V laid the foundation stone of New Delhi at the time of the Delhi Durbar in 1911. Both Britishers were experienced architects in their own right. One of their joint work was on this Viceroy’s House, see photo. It took 17 years to complete the building with its 320 acres layout, finally opened in 1929. Click on the photo for better view.
Read about The Making and Remaking of Connaught Place.
Did you know- that Connaught Place is amongst the top ten most expensive markets in the world.
From the collection- 1964 M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal Art Abstract (#1)., Chinese Boats On The Malabar Coast – Old Print 1746., Rare Nilgiri Mountain Railway Steam Locomotive Blueprint
