RESTORATION The balcony in the 163-ft Persian Hall , where guide struck a match at one end and sound was heard at the other, closed for the past one year
LUCKNOW: Heritage enthusiasts and tourists still await the famous matchstick trick, quite common among the guides, highlighting the amazing acoustics of the 163-feet Persian Hall of the Bada Imambada. Tourists would just not stop gushing about how the guide struck a match at one side of the sprawling balcony in the hall and the sound was heard clearly at the other end. The sound of a paper being torn was also clearly audible, illustrating how the faintest of sounds got amplified.
Alas, the Persian Hall’s balcony gallery where the trick was performed has been closed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for more than 13 months, citing immediate maintenance and repair. However, the agency is yet to start the restoration work.
“This was among the most famous features of the Bada Imambada that attracts tourists not only from India but also from different parts of the country. This is a most amazing phenomenon in which a match is struck at one end of the 163-feet long Persian Hall of Bada Imambada and its sound is heard on the other side. But now we can’t perform the act since the gallery where we used to perform this act has been closed,” said a guide of Bada Imambada.
{{/usCountry}}“This was among the most famous features of the Bada Imambada that attracts tourists not only from India but also from different parts of the country. This is a most amazing phenomenon in which a match is struck at one end of the 163-feet long Persian Hall of Bada Imambada and its sound is heard on the other side. But now we can’t perform the act since the gallery where we used to perform this act has been closed,” said a guide of Bada Imambada.
{{/usCountry}}Officials of Hussainabad and Allied Trust (HAT), the custodian of Bada Imambadam said ASI had closed the balcony of the Persian Hall almost a year ago, as it was dilapidated. “ASI officials had said the balcony would be re-opened once it was refurbished. But they have not turned up yet to carry out the restoration work,” said a HAT official.
Some HAT officials said they were told the work may start by March this year and would take another six months to get completed. “It may take around six month or so to repair the delicate balcony that is located in the central part of the hall,” another HAT official said.
Fareed Akhtar Zaidi, officer on special duty (OSD) HAT said the trust had approached ASI to start the maintenance work at the earliest.