Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/369

 LUC 361 Not less remarkable is the contrast in stability which the ancient and modern buildings present. Not a brick has fallen from the vast vault of the imámbára now almost one hundred years old, and used as an arsenal. Huge 13-inch mortars, and 8-inch guns are dragged about its sacred floors, but the building stands firm. Of the residency also, built about 1780, hardly a brick has fallen; it was exposed to a five months' cannonade from heavy artillery at three hundred yards during the mutiny of 1857, yet the walls are quite firm, and whatever roofs were not torn down by the mutineers are yet almost perfect. In the Qaisar Bágh, on the other hand, although not thirty years old, decay has made great progress; one entire side of the main quadrangle has been removed, and the others are more or less ruinous. It was given to the taluqdars by Lord Canning on condition that they should keep it in repair. This palace is believed to have cost £800,000. One feature of this fantastic architecture may be mentioned. On the top of any square building four flying buttresses are sent from each corner, not however to support any Gothic pinnacle, but simply to meet each other ; no modern building seems complete without some of these, looking like a pair of shears, or the charred rib of some mighty ship. Gilt domes, made of copper covered with gold, gilt umbrellas, and balustrades of burnt clay, with gilt spikes, are among the tawdry ornaments which stil Irender a Lucknow view so bright and sparkling. As usual in Indian cities few buildings except mosques or tombs were built by the nobles of the court or the merchants. It was dangerous for any except the king's nearest relatives to build a fine mansion. Since annexation a number of town houses have been built or greatly enlarged by the nobility of Oudh. One feature generally present is an imposing gateway, consisting of arch within arch, rising from the same base, and covered with arabesque details, gaudily coloured. The masonry is so bad that houses built only a few years ago are already in a state of ruin and decay, and such are often represented to be old mansions whose owners since annexation are no longer able keep their ancestral halls in repair. It is the Lucknow plaster, as remarked by Lord Valentia, which keeps up its credit; the finest kind is made from the shells left in ancient lakes now dried up. When well done this chunam is really brighter and purer looking than marble, and its effects when lighted up with thousands of lamps is exquisitely beautiful. The following is a quotation from “ Forester's Journey" touching the state of the city during the nawabi :- " Lucknow is a large and populous city, but wholly inelegant and irre- gular. The streets are narrow, uneven, and almost choked up with every species of filth. The Gumty, running on the north side of the town, is navigable for boats of a common size at all seasons of the year, and falls into the Ganges between Benares and Ghazepour. A line of boats, extended across the river, forms a convenient communication with a large suburb."*
 * Page 95," A Jourvey by George Forester," Vol. I.