Replicas of Mysore Palace and Hampi’s ruins at the Bharat Darshan Park. (Express)With replicas of 17 popular monuments from across the country including Mysore Palace, Charminar and Khajuraho Temple built from scrap material, the Bharat Darshan Park in Punjabi Bagh is set to be completed this year. Spread over 8.5 acres and built at a cost of Rs 14 crore, the park will be open to visitors from 2021, said mayor of South MCD Anamika Mithilesh.
The mayor said though the South MCD is facing fund constraints, money for the project had been allocated before the Covid crisis. “The civic body will be able to complete the project on time,” she said.
Other replicas of monuments include Gateway of India, Konark Temple, Nalanda ruins, Golden Temple, Meenakshi Temple, Hawa Mahal, Hampi ruins, Victoria Memorial, Sanchi Stupa, Gol Gumbaz, Ajanta and Ellora Caves, and Junagarh Fort.
The replicas are being built using parts of vehicles, fans, rods, iron sheets, nut-bolts, etc, which were gathering dust in municipal stores, said leader of the house, South MCD, Narendra Chawla.
It will also have a walking track of 1.5 km, a children’s play area, landscaped waterfalls, fountains, ponds, amphitheatres for cultural events and a food court offering major cuisines of India, said Chawla.
The project was inspired by an earlier project of the South MCD called the ‘Waste to Wonder’ park in Sarai Kale Khan, which has replicas of seven iconic monuments from across the world and opened to the public last February. In just one year, the civic body had recovered the cost of the project by earning more than Rs 8 crore through tickets.
Around 16 lakh people visited this park last year, with an average daily footfall of 4,000 to 5,000, which doubles to 10,000 on weekends and public holidays.
Niten Mehta, an architect involved with the new project, said it is more difficult than the Sarai Kale Khan one as replicating temple architecture using iron rods is challenging. He said the reason SDMC’s earlier project was so successful was because Delhi, being a landlocked place, lacks open spaces where people can walk.
He said, “Most people are not able to visit many monuments in their lifetime, so we are hopeful that this too will attract similar crowds.”
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