Singha Durbar

"Lion Palace" redirects here. For other uses, see Palace of the Lions.
Singha Durbar
General information
Architectural style Neoclassical architecture, Palladian architecture, and European styles of architecture
Town or city Kathmandu
Country Nepal
Cost Unknown
Client Chandra Shumsher JBR
Technical details
Structural system Brick and Mortar
Design and construction
Architect Kumar Narsingh Rana, Kishor Narsingh Rana[1]
Aerial shot of Tundikhel along with Singha durbar

Singha Durbar (Nepali: सिंहदरवार) is a Rana palace in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The name Singha Durbar literally translates as Lion's Palace.The palace complex, located east of the Bhadrakali and north of Thapathali Durbar incorporated in an impressive and vast array of courtyards, gardens and buildings. This palace was built by Chandra Shumsher JBR immediately after accession to the post of Prime Minister in June 1908.[2]

History

The palace complex lays in the centre of Kathmandu, to the north of the Babar Mahal and east of Bhadrakali.[3] build by Chandra Shumsher JBR initially as a small private residence in a property 350 Ropanis but eventually grew bigger during the construction.Immediately after construction Chandra Shumsher JBR sold this property to Government of Nepal for 20 million Nepali Rupee as the official residence of Prime minister.[2] After Chandra's death in 1929, Singha Durbar was as used as the official residence of Prime ministers of Rana dynasty except Padma Shumsher JBR,who lived in his own Bishalnagar Durbar. The last Rana Prime minister to occupy Singha Durbar was Mohan Shumsher JBR .Even after the fall of Rana Dynasty in 1951, Mohan Shumsher JBR used this place but, in 1953 he was later ordered by His Majesty's Government to leave the palace claiming back Singha Durbar as a National Property.[2]

Shingha Durbar

Design

Exterior structure

The structure was designed by Kumar Narsingh Rana, Kishor Narsingh Rana. The architecture of the palace is a unique example of different building traditions - reminiscent of Palladian architecture, Corinthian order, Neoclassical architecture mansions along with the Baroque architecture.[1][2]

Interior space

Before the fire of 1973, Singha Durbar had 7 courtyards and 1700 rooms.All of which has marbled floor, painted ceilings, silver furniture and huge expanses of crystal lightings.[1][4]

State Hall and Gallery Baithak

View of the Durbar from the gardens

State hall of Singha durbar is largest and the most decorated hall in this palace.This hall is adorned with foreign imported art pieces like Murano glass crystal chandeliers,Belgian Mirrors along with English stained glass doors and Italian marble floor with the floral patterns in walls and ceilings.[2] Chandra Shumsher build a private theater in single durbar and named it Gallery Baithak .Gallery batik of single durbar is now turned into parliament building.

Under Government of Nepal

Main Gate of Singha Durbar

After the end of hereditary Prime Ministership system of Ranas from Nepal,The government of Nepal used this palace compound as house for ministries and government offices. Currently the palace compound is occupied by both chambers of the Parliament of Nepal (the Pratinidhi Sabha, or House of Representatives, and the Rashtriya Sabha, or House of the States) before the formation of the Constituent Assembly for the promulgation of a new constitution. Currently, it also holds 20 different ministries and government offices.Singh Darbar is also the headquarters of Radio Nepal and Nepal Television

Fire of 1973

Monday 9 July 1973 a huge fire broke out in singha durbar engulfing all three wings of palace except the front facing wing .To prevent the front wing from catching fire, artillery cannon were fired destroying three wings facing North,South and West.[4] After the fire was put out, the whole area was rebuilt in the same old foundation by the then's Government.[4]

Earthquake of 2015

Singha Durbar was seriously damaged during the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.Singha Durbar was designated unsafe and received a red sticker. The future of the Historical building is unknown.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mark Tushnet; Madhav Khosla (4 September 2015). Unstable Constitutionalism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 66–. ISBN 978-1-107-06895-7.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 JBR, PurushottamShamsher (2007). Ranakalin Pramukh Atihasik Darbarharu [Chief Historical Palaces of the Rana Era] (in Nepali). Vidarthi Pustak Bhandar. ISBN 978-9994611027. Retrieved 2015.
  3. ↑ "THE HISTORIC DURBARS OF KATHMANDU". 2014-10-19. Retrieved 2015-06-05.
  4. 1 2 3 http://www.thetaranights.com/singha-durbar/
  5. ↑ http://nepalitimes.com/blogs/mycity/2015/05/20/rana-palaces-after-the-earthquake/

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Singha Durbar, Kathmandu.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 27, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.