Carpets from UP, bamboo floors from Tripura, new Parliament House reflect India’s diverse culture

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building on Sunday amid a boycott by several opposition parties. During the inauguration ceremony, ‘Sengol’, a historical scepter of Tamil Nadu, which was received by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to represent the transfer of power from the British and kept in a museum in Allahabad, was also installed in the new building was carried and placed near the chair of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in the Chamber of the House.

New Parliament House reflects India’s diverse culture

With carpets from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, bamboo floors from Tripura and stone carvings from Rajasthan, the materials used for the new Parliament building have been sourced from different parts of the country and reflect India’s diverse culture.

The teak wood used in the building was sourced from Nagpur in Maharashtra, while the red and white sandstone was sourced from Sarmathura in Rajasthan. The sandstone for the Red Fort and Humayun’s Tomb in the national capital was also known to have been sourced from Saramathura.

The saffron green stone has been sourced from Udaipur, red granite from Lakha near Ajmer and white marble from Ambaji Rajasthan.

The steel structure for the false ceiling in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers has been sourced from the Union Territory of Daman and Diu, while the furniture in the new building was fabricated in Mumbai.

The stonework on the building was sourced from Rajnagar in Rajasthan and Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

Materials for the Ashoka emblem were sourced from Aurangabad in Maharashtra and Jaipur in Rajasthan, while the Ashoka Chakra for the massive walls of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers and the exterior of the Parliament House were procured from Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

The new Parliament building uses sand or M-sand manufactured from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana to make the concrete mix for the construction activities. M-Sand is considered eco-friendly as it is manufactured by crushing large hard stones or granite and not by digging the river bed.

The fly ash bricks used in the construction were sourced from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, while the brass work and pre-cast trenches were from Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

888 members of the Lok Sabha can sit in the new Parliament House

The new Parliament House has a grand Constitution Hall, a lounge for parliamentarians, a library, several committee rooms, dining areas and ample parking space to showcase India’s democratic heritage. The triangular-shaped four-storey building has a built-up area of ​​64,500 square meters and has three main gates – Gyan Dwar, Shakti Dwar and Karma Dwar. It has separate entrances for VIPs, MPs and visitors.

The new Parliament House can seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha Chamber and 300 in the Rajya Sabha Chamber. In the event of a joint sitting of both the houses, a total of 1,280 members can be accommodated in the Lok Sabha chamber.