The grand structure that is Bada Imambara of Lucknow

Imambara, Lucknow aka Asfi Imambara, the imambara built by Asaf. Imam_bara refers to the ‘House of the Imam’. Imam: literally, the head of the ummah, the Muslim community.

The Imambara at Lucknow was commissioned by Asaf ud daula, the Nawab of Awadh at a time when Awadh was facing  famine conditions. When another imambara was constructed in the neighbourhood a few years later, the Asfi Imambara came to be called the ‘Bada’ Imambara. Bada referring to ‘big’. The other building came to be known as the ‘chhota’ imambara, chhota referring to ‘smaller’. 

Building this grand structure created much needed employment for a people who were facing difficulty because their crops had failed. Paid labour ensured some money in their hands which could be used to buy food and other essentials. Construction started in 1784 and the building was finally put into use in 1791. 

The Bada Imambara  is a marvel of civil engineering. Built on very deep foundations, it is a building that uses no wood or iron in its construction. The entire building is covered with a roof of interlocking bricks set in a thick layer of rice husk and plaster that stands without any beam or girder. The main building consists of an immense hall, 162 feet long, 54 feet wide and about 50 feet high. On either side are verandahs 27 feet wide, and at the end are octagonal apartments 53 feet in diameter. 

The bricks used for construction are of the kind that were   used commonly since the 5th century ce. Many buildings from the Gupta period, made of such bricks can be seen in the neighbourhood of Kanpur even today. 

These bricks were slim and small. They were made in two sizes. The thinner version was about 5.9" x 3.9" x 0.7" and the thicker version was about 5.9" x 3.9" x 1.9". They could be made of even low quality clay and baked in low temperature kilns such as could use dried cow dung— kanda, uple, thepdi—  as fuel.  The small size of the brick enabled the artisan to make intricate shapes out of them. They were then held together by a fine paste made by wet grinding some 23 ingredients.  The ingredients primarily included lime/choona, urad dal, powdered brick called ‘surkhi’, jaggery or molasses. In addition, depending on the actual use for the mortar, egg white, fermented rice and other ingredients could be added to give it added strength, smoothness etc..   Such bricks and mortar went out of fashion only in the 19th century when the British introduced the larger, and hotter kilns and insisted on a larger size of bricks and people switched to using cement.   

Asaf ud daula was buried in this hall. Photo from 2015 of the Bada Imambara by Anandamoy Chatterji.

*Courtesy India History post on fb