Monument Name Parliament House Location Parliament House State Delhi Timings Entry into Parliament House requires official permission, whether Parliament is in session or not. Visitors can enter the public galleries of the Indian Parliament with prior permission, after receiving an official pass. Coordinates 28.648415, 77.232513 Wikipedia Links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sansad_Bhavan Entrance Fee Free, but prior permission required (foreigners/citizens: from their embassies or High commissions/ from the reception office on Raisina Road) Photography charges : nil (prior permission required) Other Details On the northwest of Vijay Chowk, next to the Secretariat buildings at the end of Parliament Street (Sansad Marg). The place where the Indian Parliament meets and the world's largest democracy

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Parliament House accommodates the two Houses of Parliament, Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States). Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, the architects of Delhi, designed this building. His Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught, laid the foundation stone of Parliament House in the year 1921. It took six years to complete the Delhi Parliament House and its was inaugurated in the year 1927 by the then Governor-General of India, Lord Irwin. A circular building, it also houses ministerial offices, a number of committee rooms and a brilliant library.

The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha meetings are held in the domed circular central hall and the three semi-circular buildings. Sansad Bhavan of New is adorned with an open verandah with 144 columns and a 28 m central dome. Made up of blocks of sandstone, it has a diameter of approximately 174 m. Enclosing the Parliament House Estate is an attractive red sandstone wall or iron grill with iron gates. It is necessary to take prior permission before visiting the Parliament House of Delhi. Indians need to get permission by applying at the Parliament Secretariat and foreigners through their Embassies or High Commissions.

Also Known As Sansad Bhawan - A Large Legislative Assembly

If it were not for the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms of 1919, the Parliament House may not have been built. It’s corny how the building most indispensable to modern Indian democracy came up as an afterthought. Earlier called the Circular House, it was added to the layout at a later stage following the reforms which created a large Legislative Assembly.

This edifice is the brainchild of Herbert Baker and was much criticized in comparison with Lutyens creations. An article by Robert Byron in Architectural Review, January 1931describes it thus: "The Council Chamber has been Sir Herbert’s unhappiest venture. Its effect from a distance has been described. It resembles a Spanish bull-ring, lying like a mill-wheel dropped accidentally on its side."

The Massive Structure

To the northwest of Vijay Chowk, this huge circular, colonnaded building comprises three semicircular chambers for the Legislatures and a Central Library crowned by a 27.4m high dome. It is 173m in diameter and covers 2.02 hectares in area, with colonnaded verandahs enclosing the entire circumference. The three semi-circular areas were designed for the Chamber of Princes, the Council of State and the Legislative Assembly. Today they house the chambers of the Lok Sabha (House of the People), Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and the library. A verandah with 144 columns surrounds the three chambers. The boundary wall has blocks of sandstone carved in geometrical patterns that echo the Mughal jalis.

An entry pass to the library can be obtained from the Visitor’s reception on Raisina Road by providing a letter of introduction from a Member of Parliament. The library working hours are from 1000-1800. To obtain a visitor’s pass to Sansad Bhawan, Indian nationals should apply to the Parliament Secretariat. Foreign nationals should apply through their embassies or high commissions.