Nyay Mandir

Initially built to house a vegetable market, the structure was commissioned by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in the memory of his late queen & wife, Maharani Chimnabai I. But upon completion of the building works, it was decided to use it as Town Hall. After a few years of being used as the town hall, it was converted to an imperial court. It was inaugurated on 30 November, 1896 by the then Viceroy Lord Elgin.

The Maharaja held immense respect for his late Maharani who passed only after a few years of their marriage. Following are the lines that he said while laying the foundation stone of the building:” I wish to commemorate the virtues of Her Late Highness and the admiration I entertained for her – the mild, charitable, amiable woman, the devoted mother, and a loving wife”.

Used for musical concerts and lectures in its early days and later converted to the court, the building came to be known as the “Maharani Chimnabai Nyay Mandir”. Being the supreme court pre-independence it came to be an important building and was used to deliver lectures by eminent people such as Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Aurobindo Ghosh, and Patrick Geddes as well. Baroda’s last ruler Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad gave his final speech from the balcony of the building, before acceding to the Indian union.

The Building :

Planned around two huge courtyards, the double storeyed structure occupies a massive area of about 6000 square meters and was built at the cost of about 7 Lac Rupees. The building has been designed to be almost symmetrical along the central axis, with a huge hall in the center. During the construction, it was decided to convert and design to use it as courts of Judiciary along with large town-hall and that work was done by Chisholm. This hall was flanked by two courtyards enclosed in rows of  law court rooms on three sides. Built with brick, stone, wood and steel the building’s facade has been treated with Italian ceramic tiles of ochre yellow and brick red.

Most of the windows and entrance doors of the buildings have been inscribed in different types of arches such as the segmental, semi circular and ogee arches highlighted in white color. The top portion of the building has been embellished with big and small “chattris”(cupolas), pilasters, finials and towering elements. It also displays beautiful stone and wrought iron “jalis”.The front facade of the building has a huge clock fitted on its top, which reminds the passerby of the time.

The gem of the building, is undoubtedly the beautiful statue of Maharani Chimnabai I installed in the building at the time of its inauguration. Carved out of white Italian marble the graceful statue was made under the supervision of the famed sculptor Felici in the year 1890.

The colorful fountain in-front of Nyay Mandir with 4 side facing lion (Ashok Stambh) was made in memory of India’s independence.

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With the court recently being shifted elsewhere, the building has quickly fallen into disrepair with plants growing out from its sides and the iron jalis slowly corroding away. The structure does not only carry with it the architectural legacy, but also carries with it the legacy of the most adored Maharaja of the city and his beloved Maharani. The Nyay Mandir is an example of yet  another heritage building with it’s fate lying in the hands of the authorities.