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Old Secretariat
The Old Secretariat, designed by E. Montague Thomas, stands along the
Mahatma Gandhi Road. It was built (on the double) in 1912 and housed
British Government offices till they shifted to North and South blocks on
Raisina Hill. It now houses the headquarters of the Government of the
National Capital Region of Delhi and the Delhi
Assembly.
The North & South Block
North Block and South Blocks are the two secretariats situated on both
sides of Raisina Hill - facing each other with a huge square or plaza
known as "Vijay Chowk" in between. These long classical
buildings, topped by embellished domes, were designed by Herbert Baker and
were inspired by Christopher Wren's Royal Naval College at Greenwich. They
are also pretty similar to the imperial edifices Baker erected in
Pretoria.
The Monumental Secretariat Buildings
The primary objective of building New Delhi was to show the 'brown
native' the superiority, power and arrogance of his white masters. Just
like the entire New Delhi, the Secretariats too are made of rose pink and
butter-coloured sandstone. Dark pink sandstone used for the plinths lends
the monuments gravity, while the butter sandstone of the walls, domes and
towers gives them a light, airy appearance.
The towers were originally designed to be twice the height of the
buildings and to act as sentinels guarding the way to the inner sanctum.
Their height was reduced and with it their impact. The domes are decorated
with lotus motifs and elephants, while the Mughal designs inspires the
north and south gateways
In the Great Court between the Secretariats there are four Dominion
Columns donated by the government of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and
South Africa. A bronze ship sailing east, symbolizing the maritime and
mercantile supremacy of the British Empire crowns each of the columns. In
the centre of the court is the Jaipur Column of red sandstone topped with
a white egg, bronze lotus and six-pointed glass star of India. Across the
entrance to the Great Court is a 205m wrought iron screen.
The Government Workplace
The secretariat buildings are now offices of the Government of India and
one need to have a visitor's pass to enter. The Home Affairs and Finance
ministries are situated in the North Block, while the External Affairs
ministry is in the South Block. The great open space at the base of the
slope is called Vijay Chowk or the "Victory Square". The Beating
of Retreat Ceremony takes place over here on January 29th each year.