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| Kardyl /Bharat Insurance Building, Chennai, flicker.com |
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| Kardyl /Bharat Insurance Building, Chennai, flicker.com |
The original name of the Bharat Insurance Building is the Kardyl building, a huge structure that was built in 1897 in Indo-Saracenic style. Constructed for W E Smith and Company, it was bought by Bharat Insurance in 1934. This insurance company became part of the Central government government controlled Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). This historic building would have turned into mound of dirt, but for the timely intervention of heritage lovers and others who are on a war path to save countless monuments in Chennai. The Madras High Court in 2010 restrained Life Insurance Corporation of India's move to pull down the structure without complying with regulation 22 of the Development Control Rules for the Chennai Metropolitan Area, 2004.The Bench asked the State government to issue rules to prevent persons from undertaking any repair, even in the name of renovation of heritage buildings without seeking the necessary approval of the HCC - the Heritage Conservation Committee.The court also asked the HCC to save heritage site as far as possible. It was a land mark judgement that would save innumerable heritage sites in this state as well as in other states in the future.
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| the Kardyl /Bharat Insurance Bldg., Chennai, .flickr.com |
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| Kardyl /Bharat Insurance Building, Chennai,hwilliam-madras.blogspot.com/ |
This Kardyl building owes its origin to W.E. Smith, a pharmacist, who landed in Chennai in 1868. He went to Ooty in the Nilgiri hills and opened a pharmacy shop. Encouraged by the success of the Ooty shop and other branches, he was keen to set up a shop in Madras (Chennai). Smith engaged in "wholesale and manufacturing of drugs and aerated water, sale of surgical instruments, besides serving as opticians. With prompt and dedicated services, his business expanded beyond his expectation and, now, he needed more space for keeping stocks, etc. W.E. Smith was South India's leading pharmacist.
Kardyl Building was inaugurated in 1897 and it took three years to complete it. This building became the HO and Smith was doing business under the name of "W.E. Smith & Co Ltd." Kardyl Building, triangular in plan, is a unique structure where one see a blend of Indo-Saracenic, Mughal with the Ottoman, Hindu and European Classical styles. The architect J.H. Stephens of the P.W.D. Madras had his extraordinary imagination and vision run riot; an infusion of many and varied designs in one building is odd and it was tagged as palatial. The company's show room itself measured 60-foot by 40.
No visitor to the heart of Mount Road, Chennai can miss the striking features of Kardyl building such as domes, spires, 100-foot minarets, nice impressive arches and long verandahs (for better air circulation inside) all blended into a unique style of fantasy. The building had rooms for practicing doctors and dentists on its first floor facing Mount Road, and for its European assistants facing General Patter's Road. Also once functioned in this building were a cafe and a beer bar. Smith's aerated water factory was in the back of the compound.
To protect the structure from further damage and worn-off, particularly, in the monsoon season, the building was covered with a blue sheet in 2012. The heritage lovers and experts were quite concerned about the impact of monsoon on this old weak structure. First of all the sooner this structure is repaired and saved from further deterioration, the earlier the restoration process will be put in place.
http://william-madras.blogspot.com/2011/05/bharat-buildings-story-goes-back-to.html
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/Restraint-on-demolition-of-heritage-building/article16298583.ece
https://ballsoffury2811.wordpress.com/tag/bharat-insurance-building/
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