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Ghantaghar (literally clock-tower) is a location in the center of Chandni Chowk, Delhi, where an iconic clock tower, termed Northbrook Clocktower during early 20th century, stood originally built in 1870 stood until its partial collapse and subsequent demolition in 1950s. The term "Chandni Chowk" (literally silvery or moonlit square) originally referred to this location which later came to designate the entire street. The Ghantaghar location has been regarded as the center of Delhi, and even now serves as a center for major civic events. Today, Delhi Town Hall is located at the site. It was perhaps the oldest clock tower in India, constructed before Rajabai Clock Tower, Mumbai, 1878, Husainabad Clock Tower, Lucknow, 1881, and Secunderabad Clock Tower, Secunderabad, 1897. While the clock tower is long gone, the location is still termed Ghantaghar within Old Delhi. Ghantaghar was the location of some of the events relating to Indian's freedom movement. On March 30, 1919, many protesters were killed by the British soldiers. It is still a very popular spot for organizing protests. ==The Caravanserai and Town Hall== The old city of Delhi was laid out by princess Jahanara Begum, who constructed an elegant caravanserai on the East side of the street with gardens in the back. Herbert Charles Fanshawe, in 1902, mentions about the serai: :"Proceeding up the Chandni Chauk and passing many shops of the principal dealers in jewels, embroideries, and other products of Delhi handicrafts, the Northbrook Clock Tower and the principal entrance to the Queen's Gardens are reached. The former is situated at the site of the Karavan Sarai of the Princess Jahanara Begum (p. 239), known by the title of Shah Begum. The Sarai, the square in front of which projected across the street, was considered by Bernier one of the finest buildings in Delhi, and was compared by him with the Palais Royal, because of its arcades below and rooms with a gallery in front above. Bernier was of opinion that the population of Delhi in 1665 was much the same as that of Paris, a striking instance of how population follows the court in the East. The gardens must at one time have been extremely beautiful specimens of eastern pleasure retreats, and even now are very pretty." The serai was demolished perhaps even before the ghadar of 1857. The seari was replaced by the Victorian-Edwardian architecture 〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Landmark building with uncertain fate, Nivedita Khandekar, Hindustan Times New Delhi, December 08, 2012 )〕 building now known as the Town Hall, and the pool in the middle of the square was replaced by a grand clock tower. The Town Hall was actually planned before the Revolt, and was built in 1860-5, as a center for the Europeans and was initially called the Lawrence Institute. The Institute, contained a Darbar Hall with a publio library and reading rooms. According to MCD, the Town Hall had been planned to serve as an office for the municipality, chamber of commerce, a literary society and a museum to ‘improve the local minds and to forward intercourse between Europeans and natives.’ 〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= From civic centre to museum, Kusum Kanojia, Aug 29, 2012 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ghantaghar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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