July 2011: India House–a little slice of history

This is India House, the office of the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. I had to go there to pick up my OCI papers so took some pics of this lovely building.

It is an imposing building.

With a significant Indian motif presence. Here are them elephants.

And the lotus flower.

India Place.

A plaque on the right.

The windows have these wonderful iron bars in a sun burst.

With the emblem of India emblazoned on it. The three headed lion motif of Ashoka on a pillar, with the sunburst symbol and the words, “truth always wins”. Not that the current crop of politicians will know anything about Ashoka or Truth, corrupt thieving bastards.

There are lovely flagposts.

With a flag hanging down in the still air.

There are proud panther statues on the top. It could also be a lion, but I am not sure.

There are these round symbols on the walls outside. I was very puzzled by these. India doesnt have a tradition of heraldic shields or plaques. So what on earth are these? Turns out, these are representations of Indian states way back in the 1920’s. Here are the relevant states and what they mean from the HCI site.

Rhinoceros Assam. Assam has a ton of Rhinos. Lovely national park there.

Camel Baluchistan. Hmmm, i didnt know that it was a state at that time.

Elephant in Procession Delhi. Presumably to show that there were raja’s and emperors on Elephants?

Crescent moon over a Gateway North West Frontier Province. Islam? Khyber Pass?

Fort St George Madras, presumably to show the presidency?

 

Ship Bombay to signify the maritime tradition? Not sure what the other one is for.

Five rivers with the sun shining above them Punjab, fairly self evident.  

Peacock Burma, hmmm, Peacock, eh? in Burma?

snakes (nags) representing the ancient Nag dynasty and the provincial capital of Nagpur. Central Provinces. So that’s where it came from. Hmm.

The Bodhi tree under which Gautama Buddha reached salvation Madras. Why is this in Madras?

Fishes, which to Hindus and Muslims alike stand for good luck, and a bow and arrow referring to Rajput traditions. United Province of Agra and Oudh. Ok….Fishes were also the royal sign for the Nawabs of Oudh.

There are these round bases, were they put up there to receive some other plaques?

Lovely windows.

The queue to get into the Indian Embassy.

The statue of Jawarhar Lal Nehru, the first prime minister of India.

The entrance.

The lettering on the front. With a traditional stone filigree on the window. Very nice.

Check out the facade.

Seriously stern looking animals on top.

Interestingly enough, right at the top, there are these two heraldic signs. To me, they look like the royal heraldic signs of the crown of the United Kingdom. Fascinating. But why still have them?

In the front of the India House building is the Waldorf, its a great little hotel. Had some good times in here. The cakes are really good.



A doorman with a bowler hat in front of the Waldorf.

Well, dont dump.

Somebody has written graffiti on the back of this dirty truck.

I noticed this little plaque on the side. Interesting, eh?

A plane taking off.

The BBC were on strike.

Yes, stop compulsory redundancies. Stop spending my money, you muppets.

Bush House, with a giant imposing facade.

The entrance to the Bush House.

 
Friendship between the UK and USA. Nice one.