Golghar Patna

An impressive landmark and one of the most popular attractions of Patna, Golghar is a dome-shaped structure that is towards the west side of Gandhi Maidan.

History

This spherical structure has been named so because of its round shape. It was originally a granary that was constructed in the year 1786 by the British army to use it as a storehouse that can be used at the time of famines. The famine of 1770 had killed over 10 million people and so Governor-General of India; Warren Hastings commissioned the construction of this dome-shaped granary where the British could store grains. The idea of the structure was that of an engineer Captain John Garstin who worked with the British East India Company. It was on 20^th July 1786 that the construction got completed. At the time of the construction, it was Patna’s tallest building.

While the walls are 3.6 m thick, the base is 125 m wide. There are 145 spiral-shaped staircases on both the dues so that the workers could climb from one side and get down from the other. This granary has the capacity to store around 140000 tonnes of grains. When you get on the top, enjoy nice views of the city and Ganga River.