Page:Bulandshahr- Or, Sketches of an Indian District- Social, Historical and Architectural.djvu/102

 fine statue of Buddha, of the 8th century, had been previously discovered on the same spot.

In this new garden, close by the roadside, from which it is divided only by a low wall with stone posts and chains, is now being built the Town Hall, which, if I am able to superintend its completion, will be one of the most remarkable modern buildings in the Province. The cost will scarcely be less than Rs. 30,000, the whole of which is being defrayed by the munificence of a single individual, Rájá Bákir Ali Khán, of Pindrával. He received the decoration of a C. I. E. from the hands of the Lieutenant-Governor in the building itself on the 7th February 1883, when a temporary roof was thrown over the unfinished walls for the occasion. The hall, the lower end of which can be screened off as an ante-room, measures 80 feet by 25, and will be about 30 feet high, with a range of clerestory windows under the cornice. It is intended that in design, construction, and all its accessories it should form a complete epitome of all the indigenous arts and industries of the neighbourhood. The roof of the verandah is an elaborate piece of carpentry, and two pairs of doors, as specimens of wood-carving and inlaying, were contributed on loan to the Calcutta Exhibition, where they attracted much attention, and were awarded a certificate of the first-class and a gold medal. copy of another pair of its doors was made by request, and is now deposited in the South Kensington Museum. The stone work of the porch and verandah and of the great arches of the hall is of equally conspicuous merit, and a little wicket gate in the low roadside wall, immediately in front of the north verandah, is supported by ramps which are scarcely to be surpassed as graceful specimens of stone foliage.

In addition to this minor entrance in direct connection with the Town Hall, the Moti Bagh is provided with two great gates. The one in the east wall, immediately opposite the Lyall Tank, is being erected in memory of Mr. Elliot Colvin, the late Commissioner of the Division, whose sudden and untimely death, on the 3rd November 1883, was deeply felt by all classes of the community. It is estimated to cost about Rs. 4,000, and should be completed by the end of this year. The main gate is on the opposite side, towards the west, and will perpetuate the name of Ráo Umráo Siṅh of Kachesar, who has given Rs. 4,500 for its construction. Its archway, which towards the road is of white sand-stone, covered with delicate surface tracery, is flanked by two rooms of block-kankar masonry, with red-brick