NEW DELHI, July 23:
Two 1920-era heritage clock towers housed in the sprawling campus of the Rashtrapati Bhavan have been carefully restored and President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the vintage structures in the next two days.
The towers in schedule ‘A’ and schedule ‘B’ areas of the President’s Estate were built by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1924 and 1925 respectively. Lutyens was the chief architect for the design of the imperial capital of New Delhi, who also co-designed the Viceroy House (Rashtrapati Bhavan).
Mukherjee will inaugurate tomorrow the tower in schedule ‘A’ area, while the one in schedule ‘B’ area would be opened on July 25.
The event will also mark the completion of the third year of his presidency, a press release issued today by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
The schedule ‘A’ clock tower was built as an institute for men of the President’s Bodyguard and had reading and recreational rooms, canteens, etc. Since, 1947, it has been occupied by the President’s Bodyguard as its Regimental Head Quarter.
The schedule ‘B’ clock tower was known in the past as ‘Band House’ and used for residential purposes.
Both the clock towers are centrally located in the avenue which runs diagonally and is part of the original design intent of Lutyens.
The clock system installed in the tower at schedule ‘A’ is inscribed with the name “Pulsynetic”, which indicates that its manufacturer was Gent and Company of Leicester, UK. The Gent and Company’s electric clocks adorn many important buildings around the world, it said.
The clock system installed in the other tower is inscribed with the name “J B Joyce & Co Ltd, Whitchurch 1924”. The J B Joyce & Co clocks also adorn many important buildings around the world, the release added.
“Restoration work of both the clock towers has been done by INTACH while repair of clocks has been done by IIT, Delhi. The buildings were precisely documented and analysed prior to the restoration work.
“The restoration undertaken includes preservation of original plaster, Kota stone flooring, repair of conical obelisks, cleaning and painting of fire places etc, as per the original design,” it said. (PTI)
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