That year the imperial capital was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi and has since remained the seat of political activity.
King George V and Queen Mary were crowned the Emperor and Empress of India at the Delhi Durbar or mass assembly on Dec 12.
The foundation of the new city was laid Dec 15, three days after the coronation.
The mythical Indraprastha of the Mahabharata was formally declared the capital of Imperial India.
The capital was named New Delhi in 1927 and was formally inaugurated Feb 13, 1931, says R V Smith, historian and writer.
Seven cities -Siri, Tughlakabad, Jahanapanah, Ferozabad, Dinpanah, Shergarh and Shahajahanabad- were put together to form an eighth city called ‘new’ Delhi, he says.
Two British architects -Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker - laid out the architectural map of the city.
The small villages and hamlets in the southern part of the city gave way to symmetrical, planned neighbourhoods and architectural marvels like the Secretariat and the Parliament, says Smith.
St. James’ Church, built in the 1830s, is one of the oldest surviving British buildings in the city, he says.
Historian and writer Mahmood Farooqui says being the capital, Delhi developed after 1947 and a lot of state-sponsored industrial development took place in the 1950s and 1960s.
Before New Delhi, the core of the city lay in the northern parts: Chandni Chowk, Kashmere Gate and Civil Lines flourishing with trade and commerce.
People started moving to Connaught place only after World War II, says Smith.
He said in the 1960’s the sprawling circular market was more habited by the upwardly mobile and people then wore the best clothes to visit the market.
The last 100 years have seen Delhi grow and change.
The nation’s capital is perhaps the best example of the variety and diversity of the country. It’s the home of migrants, says Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for Study of Developing Societies.
From a population of 240,000 in 1911 it has grown to 22 million now. The burgeoning population has seen single units with sprawling lawns give way to skyscrapers and concrete jungles.
The city got a facelift for the 1982 Asian Games and another even bigger one during last year’s Commonwealth Games.
Many new infrastructure and facilities came up.
Globalisation also saw major changes in infrastructure, retailing and other spheres
The west became even closer and western living and ideas infiltrated into our daily lives and effected drastic changes on the social front, says octogenarian and retired government official, Ram Lal Sanganer.
From colour TV to a proliferation of channels brought the world into our drawing rooms.
With living standards improved transport and other means.
The skies were opened up, air travel became cheaper as private airlines mushroomed.
Perhaps the greatest revolution was ushered in by the metro rail.
People no longer have to contend with the long queues, ‘eternal’ wait at bus-stops and traffic jams.
Christianity has also deepened its roots over the century in Delhi. It has been a saga of great enterprise -for the spread of education, social, philanthropic, general wellbeing and better health facilities with the aid of hospitals like Holy Family and St. Stephen’s Hospitals, says Smith.
The largest number of schools and colleges are run by this vibrant minority which has brought manifold development in all spheres of life.
Seventy years after the erection of St. Mary’s Church, the Sacred Heart Cathedral was built and blessed on December 8, 1935.
In 1910, by a Degree of the Sacred Congregation of Faith, Shimla Archdiocese was erected.
Twenty-seven years later portions of Punjab which were under the Archdiocese of Agra were added to the Archdiocese of Shimla.
With this addition, the Archdiocese was renamed as Archdiocese of Delhi-Shimla.
In 1959, the Archdiocese was bifurcated into two separate ecclesiastical units, Diocese of Shimla-Chandigarh and Archdiocese of Delhi and both were handed over to the Diocese clergy.
At the time of the bifurcation, in 1959, the Archdiocese of Delhi had only 10 churches.
At present there are 41 parishes, most of them in the Capital itself, Smith added.
No comments:
Post a Comment