The 77th year of the Independence of India is marked by the inauguration of the new Parliament building, Central Vista, by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on May 28, 2023. The prime minister performed ‘Ganapati Homam’ to invoke gods to bless the inauguration of the new Parliament building. The prime minister prostrated before the sceptre or the ‘Sengol’ and sought the blessings from high priests of Tamil Nadu. After performing puja, he also installed the sacred ‘Sengol’ in the Lok Sabha chamber, right next to the speaker’s chair.
‘Sengol’ or sceptre, symbolising a just and fair governance, is a decorated rod made of gold and studded with precious stones, which is held by kings and queens as a symbol of authority and power on ceremonial occasions, particularly in western countries.
According to the official website of the Central Vista Project, the existing Parliament House was commissioned in 1927 and is almost a century old Heritage Grade-1 building. Over the decades, it has seen a massive increase in parliamentary activities and users. Ad hoc construction activities and modifications have been made over time and the building has been showing signs of distress and over-utilisation. A new parliamentary building was needed as the existing structure is not able to meet the current requirements in terms of space, amenities, and technology.
The new Parliament building has been designed by the Ahmedabad-based HCP Designs, led by Bimal Patel, and its construction started in 2022. Bimal Patel served as the chief architect of the building. It is he who conceived of and designed the new temple of democracy.
Triangular in shape, the new building has been built next to the existing Parliament House. The new Parliament building showcases India as a rising power. The triangular shape was chosen because of its ‘sacred geometrics’. The old and new Parliament buildings ‘will work together as an ensemble’ to ‘facilitate smooth and efficient functioning of operations’.
Salient Features of the New Parliament Building
Spread over an area of around 65,000 square metres, the triangular shape of the new building ensures the optimum utilisation of space. Inside the building, like the old one, there would be both the Lok Sabha (the lower House) and the Rajya Sabha (upper House). The Lok Sabha would be in the north-west corner of the building, while the Rajya Sabha would be in the south-west corner.
The new building has a larger Lok Sabha hall with a capacity of up to 888 seats and a larger Rajya Sabha hall with a capacity of up to 284 seats. The Lok Sabha hall could accommodate up to 1,272 seats for joint sessions of the Indian parliament.
As opposed to the bench-style seating arrangement of the old Parliament House, the new building has a two-seater seating arrangement. This seating arrangement has been designed after carefully studying several Parliament houses from across the globe.
The new building would have ultra-modern office spaces that are secure, efficient, and equipped with the latest communications technologies. It also has large committee rooms with the latest audio-visual equipment, and would provide a superior library experience.
The new Parliament building is a ‘Platinum-rated Green Building’, and would embody India’s commitment towards environmental sustainability. It would be an embodiment of Indian heritage, reflecting the vibrance and diversity of modern India, incorporating out cultural and regional arts and crafts. Moreover, it is divyang friendly, which means that people with disabilities would be able to move around freely.
In place of the Central Hall of the old building where the joint session of Parliament is held and which also acts as a lounge for the MPs, there would be a courtyard, called the Constitution Gallery in the new building.
The courtyard would serve as the central space where MPs can have conversations with their peers and colleagues.
The central courtyard would further house a large banyan tree, symbolising India’s values, strength, and vision.
Significance of the Architecture of the New Parliament Building
The new Parliament building is an embodiment of Indian heritage, reflecting the vibrance and diversity of modern India, incorporating India’s cultural and regional arts and crafts. The Lok Sabha hall is based on the peacock theme, India’s national bird and the Rajya Sabha hall is based on the lotus theme, India’s national flower.
The original Constitution of India would be displayed here.
Statues at the six entry-exit points or Dwars in the new Parliament building have been inspired by ancient Indian sculptures. The two stone elephants at Gaj Dwar, from which the prime minister would enter the building have been inspired by statues at Madhukeshwara temple at Banavasi, Karnataka, dating back to the ninth century CE, the Ashwa Dwar has two statues of horses inspired by the 13th century sculptures at the Sun Temple, Odisha.
The statues at two other Dwars—Shardulam Hamsa and Makara—have been inspired by the sculptures from Gujri Mahal at Gwalior, Vijay Vithala Temple at Hampi, and Hoysaleswara Temple in Karnataka.
The remaining Garuda Dwar dons the statue of the mount (vahana) of Hindu God Vishnu, inspired by the 18th century Nayaka period sculpture of Tamil Nadu.
The Lok Sabha, if seen from a distance, would look like the colours in the feather of the peacock, where the shade of green gets darker as you move closer to the chair of the Lok Sabha speaker. Further, both Houses of the new Parliament building would have natural light coming in from the outside. Beautiful jaalis (grill work) with peacock and lotus theme have been installed in both the Houses. These jaalis have the verses from the Indian Constitution inscribed in them.
The new building would also have the National Emblem mounted on top of the building. The central mounting structure would represent the secular democracy of India, with multiple windows just below it to showcase the diversity of India.
The central space of the building, with arms leading to the entrances, would be called the Constitution Hall. It would house the sculptures and portraits of parliamentarians, and other images representing various aspects of India.
One of the biggest attractions of the new Parliament building would be the Foucault’s Pendulum, which has been designed and installed by the National Council of Science Museums. It will hang from a large skylight in the triangular roof of the Constitution Hall. It will signify the relation of India with that of the Universe. The pendulum and its relative rotation is a proof of the rotation of the Earth around its axis. At the latitude of Parliament, it would take 49 hours, 59 minutes, and 18 seconds for the pendulum to complete one rotation.
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