Town Hall

The Town Hall single-handedly dominates the landscape of Chandni Chowk. Split into two, this building was erected in 1863 in brick and stone, painted yellow and white. On one side, it faces the main arterial street of Chandni Chowk, on the other side, it is flanked by Mughal style gardens complete with an octagonal pool of fountains and a long alleyway that leads right up to the Old Delhi Railway Station. The gardens are a quick reminder that this land originally belonged to Jehanara, Shah Jehan's daughter. These are open from 6 am to 9 am every day for morning walkers. At the end of the alleyway of fountains and the rectangular gardens lies a circular parapet that supports a pillar with the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on it.

The pillar bears inscriptions in English, Hindi and Urdu and is meant to remind the nation of Mahatma Gandhi's legacy, the charkha (spinning wheel) and a call for self-reliance. The Town Hall is interestingly referred to as Ghantaghar since there was a clock tower that used to be standing at this point. The tower collapsed in 1952 but left its name to the area. The building was used by the Delhi's Municipal Corporation till as recently as 2009. Since then, the building's exterior facade gives the impression that the building is in good shape, however, since the building has been locked every since, who is to tell what all lies broken and in shambles inside! If you happen to pay a visit in the early hours of the day, recommended if you want to miss the traffic during the day, you can also check out the many vendors that sell pigeon feed outside the gates of the Town Hall and feed these birds that are often seen hopping about inside the gates. The vendors themselves, appear as though they have been transported right from the ghats of Varanasi with their stiff white umbrellas.