Located in the heart of the historic Chandni Chowk, right next to the Katra Neel Gully, the Chunnamal Haveli - is a historic landmark in itself.
Though the structure of the house is hard to miss - it can be quite tricky to find the entrance - what with all the many shops that line the ground floor. But once you find the entrance, there's no mistaking the history behind the house. The gate is built in a typical Hindu style of architecture prevalent during the wee end of the Mughal era.
Spread over an acre of land, the house has 128 rooms making it the largest holding in the Chandni Chowk area. In fact, more than half of the historic city of Shahjahanabad was owned by Chunnamal - including the Fatehpuri Masjid, which the British acquired from his in exchange of four villages in modern day Nangloi and Gurgaon areas.
The house was built in 1848 (expanded in 1864) by Lala Chunnamal Rai - a wealthy Khatri merchant - who dealt with textiles and other luxury goods which he supplied to the British and Indian aristocracy.
Noted for loaning money to the British during the Revolt of 1857, he was the first Municipal Commissioner of Delhi. He was also the first person in Delhi to own a motor vehicle and the telephone.
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| Chapter 1/4: Located in the heart of the historic Chandni Chowk, right next to the Katra Neel, Chunamal Haveli - a historic landmark in itself, is hard to miss. The house was built in 1848 by Lala Chunamal Rai, a wealthy Khatri merchant, who dealt with textiles and other luxury goods which he supplied to the British and Indian aristocracy. He was the first person in Delhi to own a motor vehicle, and a telephone! The house is currently occupied and run by the youngest son of the 6th generation - Anil Pershad - who lives here with his wife, two sons and their wives, and grandchildren. In essence, the house has the 8th generation calling this a home. Mr Pershad, along with his sons are the official distributors of ITC products in Delhi. |
The doorway has a flight of stair leading up to the landing on the first floor. The staircase has porcelain tiles from the 19th century, white with patterns in blue which are as old as the house itself.
On the 1st floor landing - towards the right is a space with rooms straight ahead and doors that are now shut but would lead to the verandah/balcony, to the left. This space has a basketball hoop - a modern addition in a historic house
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| Chapter 2/4: Spread over an acre of land, the Chunamal house has 128 rooms making it the largest holding in the Chandni Chowk area. In fact, more than half of the historic city of Shahjahanabad was owned by Chunamal - including the Fatehpuri Masjid, which the British acquired from him in exchange of four villages in modern day Nangloi and Gurgaon areas. Once occupied by more than 50 members of the Chunamal clan, along with almost as many servants, today only a part of the house is used actively as a residence. Most of the other rooms have been shut due to high maintenance costs; while others on the ground floor, once used to host people during important functions, have been rented out as shops. |
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| Chapter 3/4: Though the structure of the house is hard to miss, it can be quite tricky to find the entrance; what with all the many shops that line the ground floor. But once you find the entrance, there's no mistaking the history behind the house. The gate is built in a typical Hindu style of architecture prevalent during the wee end of the Mughal era. On the 1st floor landing is a space with rooms straight ahead and doors that are now shut, but would have lead to the verandah/balcony. |
To the right is a narrow door with a narrow staircase leading one to the inner chambers. When one enters this small flight of stairs, one is greeted with a wide open hall-like space - where once gatherings would have taken place on festival nights.
The kitchen and the living area is on this floor.
To the right is a portico with an indoor terrace garden and a table and chairs to greet visitors. The family is inundated with requests from students of architecture and design to journalists and photographers who want to capture the heritage and history of the house
To the right of the portico is the actual indoor drawing room full of treasures collected over generations - here one will find everything from paintings, life-size mirrors, chandeliers, furniture, a fireplace; all with their own distinct stories. The Pershads point out that the chandeliers have candle stick holders in them which means that these have been in the house even before electricity. The drawing room high high-ceilinged with arches.
The living room a balcony - a very long one - one that runs the entire length of the house - facing the Chandni Chowk market
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| Chapter 4/4: The rooms inside the palatial Chunamal house are treasure troves of artefacts collected over generations. Here one will find everything from paintings, life-size mirrors, chandeliers, furniture, a fireplace; all with their own distinct stories. The Pershads point out that the chandeliers have candle stick holders in them, which means that these have been in the house even before electricity! The drawing room is high-ceilinged with arches. |
Once occupied by more than 50 members of the Chunnamal clan, along with as many servants, today only a part of the house is used actively as residence - most of the other rooms have been shut due to high maintenance costs; while others on the ground floor, once used to host people during important functions - have been rented out as shops.
One can only imagine how life must be life growing up in a house that has been in the family for so many generations.
I would like to extend my warmest gratitude to the Pershads for allowing me to photograph their house.
This Photo Essay was made exclusively for Housing.com for their campaign 'Houses of India'.
