HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA, LONDON
INDIA HOUSE AND ITS MURALS

SHORT HISTORY

The First High Commissioner of India, Sir William S Meyer, was appointed on 1 October 1920. At that time four buildings were rented at Grosvenor Gardens in Victoria to accommodate the office of the High Commission. Sir Atul Chatterjee, who became the High Commissioner in 1925, proposed a plan to build a House for the High Commission to the Governor General Lord Reading and the proposal was subsequently to be approved by the Governor General Lord Irwin.

A plot measuring 12,400 square feet was found between Marconi House (now Citybank) and Bush House in Aldwych and a 999 years lease was granted by the London County Council for construction of the building. Sir Herbert Baker who built the Secretariat Buildings and Parliament House in New Delhi was appointed the Chief Architect. The building was completed in 1930 and in a very impressive ceremony King Emperor George V opened the main gate of India House on 8 July, 1930 with a solid gold key. The total cost for the building, including furniture and fixtures, was £324,000.

SELECTION OF ARTISTS FOR PAINTING THE MURALS

The Government of India held an open competition in India for the selection of artists. A high powered committee selected out of eighty applicants, the following four Bengali artists:

Lalit Mohan Sen (Lucknow)
Ranada Charan Ukil (Delhi)
Dhirendra Krishna Deb Barma (Santiniketan)
Sudhansu Sekhar Choudhury (Calcutta)

They were sent to London in August 1929 and thereafter, to Florence, Rome and other cities in Europe to learn the technique of painting on plaster. In London they were trained by Professor Sir William Rothenstein at the Royal College of Arts, Kensington. Queen Mary herself met the artists at the Royal College and told them that she was eagerly looking forward to see their paintings in India House.

Work started in a temporary studio set up in a room lit by a skylight on the top floor of India House. It took the artists about ten months to complete their preparations. On 9 April 1931 the artists started painting. For technical reasons they decided to use egg-tempera instead of oil. Egg-tempera colour is made by mixing powdered pigments with yolk of egg and water.

THE MURALS:

1. Entrance Hall (Ground Floor)

In the entrance hall eight sections of pendentives were painted by R Ukil and S Choudhury depicting the six Seasons of India, at dusk and dawn.

Grishm (Summer, May/June)
Varsha (Monsoon, July/August)
Sharad (September/October)
Hemant (November/December)
Sheet (Winter, December/February)
Basant(Spring, March/April)

2. Visitors Lounge/Reading Room (Exhibition Hall) - (Ground Floor)

Lunette 1: ANARKALI by S CHOUDHURY

The painting depicts Prince Selim (later Emperor Jehangir) mourning over the grave of Anarkali, a slave girl with whom he had fallen in love. Anarkali means pomegranate blossoms. She was very beautiful and had the delicate charm of this flower.

Lunette 2: SHASTI PUJA (Goddess of Progeny) by S CHOUDURY

The picture shows an elderly woman leading young women laden with offerings to the goddess who sits under a banyan tree so that these young women may be blessed with children.

Lunette 3: END OF ROZA (FAST) by R UKIL

A young girl is pointing out the new moon in the month of "Shawal" to her aged father and telling him that he can now break his Roza (fast) as it is the end of Ramzan. The Ramzan extends over a period of about 30 days and ends in the festival of ld-ul-Fitr.

Lunette 4: TORDEE RAGINI by R UKIL

Sadly, this is not visible as it is now covered by wood panelling. The picture depicted the personification of a particular tune ('tordee') playing on a string instrument called the Veena. Indian music is divided into two groups comprising ‘Ragas' and ‘Raginis'. This particular Ragini is charming the animals in the forest.

In Lunette 1 'ANARKALI' and Lunette 2 ‘SHASTI PUJA’ were over painted later with oil colour and the effect of egg-tempera painting is lost.

3. Octagonal Hall (Lobby on First Floor) Pendentives

DK Barma painted 8 pendentives to depict the 8 phases of life where the columns and the scroll motifs are used to describe the transitions from one phase to another.

i. Birth (Janma)

A mother sits with a child in her lap. The colour red symbolises the transformation of a spirit into a human entity.

ii. Childhood (Balyavastha)

A child plays with his toys. In this painting red gradually merges into orange to signify the gradual development from the rawness of birth into human form and also the cheerful, carefree existence of childhood.

iii. Student Days (Vidyarthi Jeewan)

A boy is writing on a palm leaf The colour scheme here changes to yellowish-green from orange to convey the idea of approaching youth. The scroll-work though not yet floral in design, conveys the idea of blossoming flowers - approaching spring.

iv. Love (Prem)

A girl is offering a lotus to her beloved. The green colour scheme refers to the fullness of youth. The scroll-work now becomes fully floral.

v. Family life (Grahstha)

A man with his wife and child. The colour scheme changes to greenish-brown to suggest maturity. The scroll-work also suggests maturity.

vi. Work( Karma)

The plough suggests the necessity of work. The axe conveys the idea of protection of the family from danger. The colour scheme is now brown which suggests the autumn of life. The scroll-work contains deer and monkeys to suggest the freedom of nature that is outside the life of a family man.

vii. Renunciation (Van prastha)

The man renounces all earthly ties and turns his thoughts to religion and nature. Leaving his home life behind, he goes to live in the forest. The brown colour scheme has now changed into bluish-grey. The scroll-work represents fire, in which can be seen burning the desires of man - passion, anger, greed, pride, glory of which he has recognised the illusion.

viii. Nirvana

Death in the form of a woman taking the spirit to its last life i.e. the last birth into eternal life. The colour scheme is blue for eternity.

4. The Central Dome

The magnificent central dome is the most dominant feature of the building. The murals on the dome depict four epochs in the history of India merged in a harmonious whole. All four artists laboured for about ten months to transform spectacular historical events into richly coloured murals. For the gold background 24 carat gold leaves were used at the then staggering cost of nearly one thousand rupees.

(a) Southern Quadrant by R UKIL

The meeting of Alexander the great with the Indian King Porus after the latter's defeat in a battle. Alexander asked Porus what treatment he expected; Porus asked to be treated as one King would treat another. This chivalrous bearing so pleased Alexander that he returned his Kingdom to Porus.

(b) Western Quadrant by S CHOUDHURY

The great Maurya Emperor, Chandra Gupta, receiving his morning salute from his bodyguard of woman soldiers.

(c) Northern Quadrant by DK Deb Barma

Emperor Ashoka is sending his daughter Shangamitra to Singhal (Sri Lanka) for preaching the teachings of Buddha. Shangamitra is seen walking away with her companions carrying a sapling of Bodhi tree and Buddhist scriptures - followed by a group of musicians. Not far away Emperor Ashoka himself is reading Buddhist scriptures for giving his blessings to Shangamitra.

(d) Eastern Quadrant by LM SEN

The great Mughal Emperor Akbar is discussing with his architect the plans of his new capital, Fatepur Sikri. (See left.) The paintings of "Sky and Birds (Balaka)" on the coved ring above the dome and the ceiling (at the base of the hanging lantern) were created jointly by R Ukil and S Chowdhury.

5. Gandhi Hall (Library Hall)

Buddha with his Disciples by LM SEN

Gautam Buddha is asking his disciples " who is going to take my place after my nirvana?". All the disciples, save one, Anand, who is seen sitting at the feet of the Lord, raise their begging bowls to offer to take charge of his mission. Anand who was the principal disciple of Lord Buddha remains silent.

The painting of all the murals was completed in January 1932.

Addendum:

1. The artists, in addition to board and lodging, received one pound (Rupees thirteen and eight anas) per day as remuneration.
2. King Emperor George V and Queen Mary visited India House again on 12 March 1932 especially, to see the paintings.
3. Rabindranath Tagore visited India House in 1931 with Prof Rothenstein to meet the artists. He was delighted to learn that all the subjects and themes selected for the murals were typically Indian.
4. Sir Atul Chatterjee was the prime mover for creation of India House. His ideas and guidance for selection of themes and subjects for the murals were much valued by their artists. Sir Atul Chatterjee was born in 1874 and educated in Calcutta and Cambridge Universities He joined Indian Civil Service (1CS) in 1896 He was High Commissioner for about six years from 1925 to 1931. He then returned to India and was appointed member of the Viceroy 's Council. He spent his retirement in England and died on September 1955 in his home at Bexhill-on-Sea.
5. When India gained Independence in August 1947, India House was transferred to the Government of India and VK Krishna Menon was appointed High Commissioner.

PROVINCIAL SYMBOLS

The floor of the entrance hall (Ground Floor) is enriched by beautifully inlaid symbols provinces arranged in a circle (similar to Zodiac circle) with swastika at the centre. The symbols represent provinces as described below:

*Burma was part of Indian Empire under British Raj.

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