Jul 9, 2010

Chimnabai Nyaya Mandir or High Court at Baroda - 1890's


Photograph of the Chimnabai Nyaya Mandir or High Court at Baroda, Gujarat from the Curzon Collection, taken by an unknown photographer during the 1890s. Completed in 1896, it is situated beside the Sursagar tank in the centre of Baroda. It is one of several buildings in the city designed in an Indo-Saracenic style by the Madras architect Robert Fellowes Chisholm (1840-1915) and is a mixture of Gothic, Renaissance and Mughal elements. In the centre of the building is a large hall decorated with mosaic work, used as the Town Hall. It contains a statue of Maharani Chimnabai, the first consort of the Gaekwar Maharaja Sayaji Rao III (ruled 1875-1939), after whom the building was named. This is a view of the front entrance and clocktower, ornamented with chhatris.