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The Old Secretariat building is a place where the legislative assembly of Delhi
seats, the old secretariat is located on the main ring road close to the Civil
Lines Metro Station. The building is nearly hundred years and it was built to
accommodate official activities when the seat of power was shifted from Kolkata
to Delhi. The spectacular design of the building is credited to E Montague Thomas
and over the years the building has gathered enormous importance. The foundation
of the parliamentary system of the country was laid in this building with the
first seating of the legislative council being held in this chamber way back
in the beginning of the twentieth century.
This house was the meeting place of the legislative council till the Parliament
house building was completed and ready for use. Post independence the building
was used for quite a few purposes including academic as well as cultural events.
It is worth remembering that the first convocation ceremony of Delhi University
was held on 26th March 1923 in this very building.
In fact sessions of the Delhi assembly were held at this place during the fifties
when Delhi had a legislative assembly.The metropolitan council took over once
the legislative assembly at Delhi ceased to function, but the building was finally
rechristened as the Delhi State Assembly in the nineties.
The building is set amidst a well maintained garden that covers a large area
and the ambience is further enhanced by the beautiful surroundings of the place.
The architecture of the place is breath taking especially the frontline of the
building or the latitudinal stretch which is long by any standards. The architecture
of the place along with the rich historical legacy of the place goes a long
way in attracting visitors numbers of whom are growing with every passing day.
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