INDO-SARCENIC ARCHITECTURE - MADRAS HIGH COURT

INDO SARACENIC PERIOD
Madras High Court architecture

1. INDO-SARCENIC ARCHITECTURE MADRAS HIGH COURT HUMANITIES | SEM V -SEJAL KHANDARE V.P.P.M.P.C.O.A.

2. INDO SARACENIC PERIOD INTRODUCTION Indo- Saracenic (from Saracen, an archaic name for Muslims used by the British), also known as Indo- Gothic was a style of Architecture used by British Architects in the late 19th century in India. IndoSaracenic Architecture was an effort to merge British and Indian aspirations after 1858 and to show that how despite being an Imperial power, the British in India were part of the Indian milieu. It also aroused Indian’s interest in their own history. The Indo- Saracenic movement began in the 1870’s. An attempt at creating authority through classical prototypes and the latter phase moving towards the Colonial Architecture. It is more classical than Gothic. The Indo- Saracenic is a mixture of Indian and Islamic Architecture but remained British in spatial Organization and composition. Buildings built in this style were usually grand public buildings such as clock towers, court houses, civic and municipal buildings, Government colleges, Town halls, Railway stations, Museums and Art galleries. Few Architects of this style were: Robert Fellowes Chisholm, Henry Irwin, Edwin Lutyens and Charles Mant

3. The Emergence of Indo- Saracenic Style The hybrid combined diverse architectural elements of Hindu and Mughal with cusped arches, domes, spires, tracery, minarets and stained glass, in a wonderful manner. The buildings built in India by Indo- Saracenic style of architecture were built according to advanced British structural engineering standards of the 1800's including infrastructures of iron, steel and poured concrete. These type of buildings were employed with domes, pointed arch, vaulted roofs, pinnacles, minarets, pierced open arcade and open pavilions. It is an indispensable overview to one of civilizations most resplendent artistic traditi ons.

4. Characteristics Indo- Saracenic designs were introduced by British imperialist colonizers, promoting their own sense of “rightful self-glorification”. Public and Government buildings were often rendered on an intentionally grand scale, reflecting and promoting a notion of an unassailable and invincible British Empire. • Onion (bulbous) domes • Overhanging eaves • Pointed arches, cusped arches, or scalloped arches • Vaulted roofs • Domed kiosks • Many miniature domes • Domed chhatris • Pinnacles • Towers or minarets • Harem windows • Open pavilions or pavilions with Bangala roofs • Pierced open arcading Chief proponents of this style of architecture were these: Robert Fellowes Chisholm, Charles Mant , Henry Irwin, William Emerson, George Wittet and Frederick Stevens, along with numerous other skilled professionals and artisans throughout Europe and the Americas.

5. MADRAS HIGH COURT

6. MADRAS HIGH COURT

7. LOCATION Chennai has a hot and humid climate. Torrential rains arrive during the north-east monsoon season, usually Oct–Nov. The birthplace of Indo- Saracenic architecture was Madras. It was here that an eccentric architect Paul Benfield designed Chepauk Palace which style was to be replicated later in many parts of the country and even today you will find evidence of it in Pakistan and in Malaysia and Singapore.    

8. Building is of Indo- Saracenic architectural style. It was inaugurated on July 12, 1892. Three other buildings that came up around that time, the High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Allahabad, followed the Western Gothic style of architecture reminiscent of the castles, churches and cathedrals of Europe. The British had built this building in an attempt to make a political statement that they aspired to be a binding force bringing together India’s countless creeds, faiths and cultures under some common principles of non-intrusive governance. That accounts for the merger of several styles of architecture.

9. EARLY DAYS OF HIGH COURT AT MADRAS On 15 th Auguest,1862 Madras High Court was inaugurated. Sir Colley Harman had been the last Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was appointed first Chief Justice of Madras High Court. The rich traditions and customs of Madras High Court were inherited from Supreme Court. In 1862 when Madras High Court was established it discharged its functions from the building called the Bentinck’s building on First Line Bench Road . 1892 Sir Colley Harman Scotland

10. The building of the High Court, an exquisite example of Indo- Saracenic style of architecture, with the design prepared by J.W. Brassington and later under the guidance of the famed architect Henry Irwin, who completed it with the assistance of J.H. Stephens.  It is said they followed a bottom-up approach in the design, allowing each mason who worked on the project to suggest their individual inputs.

11. DETORIATION DUE TO WAR: The Madras High Court also has the distinction of surviving two World Wars — during the First, it was bombed by the German ship SS Emden and escaped unscathed, and during the Second, the bombs dropped by the Japanese did no damage.  It moved on past beautiful Minton tiles and the portrait gallery to a court room with its engraved cardboard ceiling and intriguing trap door set in the floor through which the accused made his appearance.  

12. Location The Madras High Court is located at Parry’s Corner, Chennai-600 104, in an extent of 36 acres.

13. Photographs of The High Court of Madras building and its surroundings – more than a century old

14. RECORDER COURT (1798) MAYOR COURT (1688)

15. CUTCHERY COURT (1793)

16. CONSTRUCTION The buildings had been constructed with a strong foundation with red brickwork and granite, embellished with minarets, mini-towers and domes.  Two lighthouses – one on the top of the High Court and the other a standalone tower within the campus - are imposing structures that have withstood the ravages of time through the 19th and 20th centuries and still stand tall as beacons of light of the Chartered High Court.   

17. DOMES

18. INTRICACY INSIDE THE DOME

19. LIGHTHOUSE Closeby the Madras High Court stands the 49 metre high Old Lighthouse. The lighthouse was constructed from 1838 to 44.  There are two light-houses (the other one is on top of the main dome) established by British in the campus. The lighthouse has been tastefully restored and renovated, with information displays kept in the two rooms adjacent to the main structure. It provides panoramic view of the city from its top. A spiral staircase leads to its top .

20. The pathways to the top of the lighthouse to be lit with LED lights and air-conditioned.

21. Display on Indian Leaders and about the first institutions that were setup in Madras INSIDE THE LIGHTHOUSE Internal spiral staircase leading to the top of the lighthouse with final few steps of ladder

22. Madras High Court Judges Library The High Court Library is meant for Honourable Judges only. Judges Library is well equipped and functions as the heart of the Court. Judges Library caters the requirements of Honourable Judges by providing latest case law, legal news, articles, commentaries and law reports. In addition to the main library, it maintains 39 Court Libraries at present. 

23. LIBRARY COLLECTION : The Library collection comprises of various Indian, Foreign Journals/Reports, Text Books, Law Commentaries on various branches of Law, bound as well as loose volumes of Journals, Bare Acts, Gazettes of Tamil Nadu, Manuals and General Books. Currently Library subscribes to the 45 Law Journals and 4 English Newspapers and 4 Tamil Newspapers LIBRARY SERVICES : 1. Manual query solution of Legal Topics and Statutory Amendments is a regular Library service. 2. Borrowed Book Services. 3. Information retrieval through Legal Databases. 4. Information retrieval through Internet. 5. Reference Service. 6. Newspaper Clipping Services.

24. CORRIDOO R

25. Ground Floor pathway Staircase leading to the main court halls

26. First floor corridor Terrace

27. DETAILED WINDOWS

28. SOCIAL IMPORTANCE The advocates of yesteryears, who had practised in the Madras High Court, had made huge contribution in the freedom struggle even at the cost of their practice. The Madras High Court had also played a major role in the social justice front and is still, by its judgments, upholding the spirit of the Constitution of India in the social justice front. This century old architectural heritage is a living testimony to the contribution this High court has made in shaping the constitutional history of India, settling innumerable questions of law within its jurisdictions, producing stalwarts of law at the bar, decorating legal jurists on the bench and continuing to enrich the legal jurisprudential heritage of this country .

29. Bibliography http://www.hcmadras.tn.nic.in/ https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/040416/madras-high-court-regains-glory.html http://www.madrasmusings.com/vol-27-no-8/125-year-old-home-of-a-155-year-old-court/ https://urbandesigncollective.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/sunday-morning-at-the-madras-high-court/ https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/the-unusual-transfer-of-madras-high-court-chief-justice-tahilramani-to-meghalaya/cid/1701807 https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/madras-high-court.html https://www.anlassociates.com/public_buildings/madras-high-court/ https://venkatarangan.com/blog/2017/10/high-court-of-madras-a-heritage-walk/ https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/a-heritage-walk-through-the-madras-high-court/article26174840.ece https://youtu.be/NC-fNhnQT-o https://youtu.be/67lbBuIozXE

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