Lucknow's Architectural Heritage

When Asaf-ud-daula moved to Lucknow in 1777 he spent vast sums of money on new buildings to outshine the Mughal splendour. The great Imambada, symbol of Lucknow�s fabulous architectural heritage, was built at a time when a great famine raged through the state in 1784. Hundreds of men and women thronged to the city as utter destitutes. Even the rich and noble were reduced to beg for food. Asaf-ud-daula hit upon a novel plan to help out for work. He decided to build the great Imambada and employed some 22,000 people to work day and night. One fourth of the day�s work was demolished at night against payment. Thus there was enough work. The names of the nobles were called out at night for payments to spare them the indignity of working with the masses. Asaf-ud-daula had a charitable disposition almost to a fault. He would have jewels inserted into musk melons before distribution among the poor.

The Bada Imambada is, in fact, a great hall built at the end of a spectacular courtyard approached through two magnificent triple-arched gateways. This columnless hall has been an architectural marvel since 1784, with the interior length of 49.4 metres and width of 16.2 metres. The ceiling is more than 15 metres high. The hall is Asia�s largest without any external support of wood, iron or stone beams. What leaves the visitor astonished is the construction of the roof. It is said to be 16 feet thick and to weigh nearly 20,000 tonnes. You would fail to find out how this amazing work was accomplished without any recourse to any known technology. Look Overhead- there are no steel griders or beams to uphold the mammoth ceiling.

An ingenious method was employed for building the roof. This immense building is covered with vaults of very simple forms and still simpler construction, being of a rubble or coarse concrete of bricks and mud, and allowed to stand a year or two to set and dry. The centering is then removed and the vault, being in one piece, stands without abutment or thrust, apparently a better and more durable from of rood than the most scientific Gothic vaulting, certainly far cheaper and far more easily made since it is literally cast on a mud from which may be moulded into any shape the fancy of the architect may dictate. The Gole Gumbad at Bijapur and the massive dome of the Taj Mahal were raised on the same kind of brick and rubble centering.

The are, in fact, three halls under the same roof. The Persian Hall is the central hall simply astonishing in proportions. The two adjoining halls are equally great. The China Hall is square at ground level, becomes octagonal at mid-height and 16 sided at the top. The dome of India Hall has been fashioned like a watermelon. These are only minor structural variations. The roof, common to these halls, is flat and in one piece. The Persian architect, Kifait-ullah supervised this unique architectural extravaganza. The acoustics are equally marvelous. Even the slightest whisper can be heard at the other corner of the hall. Light a matchstick and you can hear the sound across the length of the hall. If it was a Darbar hall, the intriguers must have had a tough time. Surely no scope for the voice of dissent.

On the top terrace, approached through a narrow flight of steps is an amazing set of passages designed to confuse the most alert minds. This is a labyrinth of inter-connected passages that seem to lead no-where. You climb a few steps you have actually descended. You descend a few steps and you realize that you have moved upwards. It adds that element of wonder to the construction. Through these 1000 narrow passages the air was trapped for cross ventilation. It served yet another more important purpose: It reduced load on the walls which, though15 feet thick had a support he mammoth rood without a murmur. This is called Bhul-bhulaiya (maze). A visitor who has dispensed with the services of a guide may find it rather embarrassing to lose his way. Keep your cool. Chances are there would be someone watching you fooling around the place and he will help you out. The terrace gives a grand view of old Lucknow with numerous mosques and minarets on the horizon.

It is popularly believed that while the foundations for the Imambada were being dug out, structural remains of some ancient habitation came to light and with that a treasure of gold which no one could ever believe. Lucknow has been the seat of some ancient kingdoms long forgotten. Superstition dictated that the unearthed treasure be surrendered to the gods who ruled below the earth. So only a bit of gold was taken and the rest buried forever. The labyrinthine passages on the terrace, some say, are modeled after the secret passages surrounding the treasure unearthed.

The mosque within the Imambada courtyard is very elegant and the grand flight of steps leading to its paved floor adds the touch of stateliness so typical of the Nawabs. It is triple-arched entrance is magnificent and the minarets so majestic.

The most intriguing structure at the Imambada is the five storeyed baoli which belong to the pre-Nawabi era. Called the Shahi-Hammam (royal bath), this baoli is connected with the river Gomti. Only the first two storeys are above water, the rest of the three perennially under water. Again it is a popular belief that there are secret passages in the submerged portions of the baoli which could lead to treasure below the Imambada. The British had tried to pump out the water but failed to find any clue to the legendary treasure. The keys to the treasure which also contain the guide map through the labyrinth were also consigned to watery depths and remained untraced. Many unexcavated mounds around this area have occasionally yielded some evidence of ancient cultures but no systematic archaeological excavation has yet been carried out. Hence the myths.

Standing jut outside the Imambada is Rumi Darwaza, modeled after a gate in Constantinople. It is a pretentious piece of architecture in evidence of the Nawabi predilection for the uncanny and the marvelous, otherwise rather tawdry in taste and fantastic in appearance.

The Bada Imambada of Lucknow is the showpiece of Nawabi architecture and also a surviving evidence of the charity of Nawab Asaf-ud-daula who would allow himself to be willingly duped by take orphans. He once happily exchanged an useless rusted sword offered by an old woman for its weight in gold. She had complimented him for having he Midas touch. He proved just that. In yet another instance he paid one hundred silver coins to a boy as price for a pair of common pigeons. When told of the trick the boy had played on him, Nawab Asaf-ud-daula quietly observed, �You think I didn�t know that?�

Irrespective of the rather unsympathetic views of historians on the architecture of Awadh, the Bada Imambada remains the most marvelous building in Lucknow, a timeless wonder.