Sights in Lucknow
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Residency
The large collection of gardens and ruins that makes up the Residency offers a fascinating historical glimpse of the beginning of the end for the British Raj. Built in 1800, the Residency became the stage for the most dramatic events of the 1857 First War of Independence, the Siege of Lucknow, a 147-day siege that claimed the lives of thousands. The compound has been left as it was at the time of the final relief and the walls are still pockmarked from bullets and cannon balls. The well-designed museum in the main Residency building includes a scale model of the original buildings. Downstairs are the huge basement rooms where many of the British women and children lived t…
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Satkhanda
This decaying watchtower looks like a medieval painting of the Tower of Babel. Known as Satkhanda, it actually has only four storeys because construction was abandoned in 1840 when Mohammed Ali Shah died.
The 67m red-brick clock tower, reputedly the tallest in India, was built in the 1880s in memory of Sir George Couper, a reform-minded Governor of UP (United Provinces in those days).
Nearby is a baradari (summer palace), which overlooks an artificial lake and houses large portraits and photos of the nawabs of Avadh.
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Mohammed Ali Shah Tomb
Just 500m up the road from the Bara Imambara is another tomb that was built by Mohammed Ali Shah in 1832. His tomb is here alongside his mother. Smaller than the Bara Imambara but adorned with calligraphy, it has a much more serene and intimate atmosphere.
In the garden is a tank and two replicas of the Taj Mahal that are the tombs of Mohammed Ali Shah's daughter and her husband. A traditional hammam can be seen as well as Mohammed's silver throne and red crown, countless chandeliers and some tazias.
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La Martinière School
This prestigious boarding school – where timeless British pop legend Sir Cliff Richard once studied – was designed and built by the Frenchman Major General Claude Martin as a palatial home. In 1800 it became his tomb – he is buried in the basement at the bottom of a blue-washed spiral staircase. The eccentric facade is part Roman archways, part Gothic horror movie, and part Disneyland-style castle with a jumble of turrets and gargoyles piled merrily atop a long line of Corinthian columns.
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Sikandar Bagh
This walled garden was created by Wajid Ali Shah, the last nawab, for his favourite queen, Sikandar Mahal. The splendid gateway, the tiny mosque and part of the wall are original. Hundreds died here in a pitched battle between Indian 'mutineers' and a British and Indian relief force during the Siege of Lucknow. The main gate is locked, but the small side gate is usually open.
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Rumi Darwaza
Like the Bara Imambara, the Rumi Darwaza was built in the 1780s by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula. It's unusual but imposing, and said to be a copy of an entrance gate in Istanbul. 'Rumi' (relating to Rome) is the term Muslims applied to Istanbul when it was still Byzantium, the capital of the Eastern Roman empire.
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Bara Imambara
This colossal tomb is worth seeing in its own right, but the highly unusual labyrinth of corridors inside its upper floors make a visit to this imambara particularly special. The ticket price includes entrance to Chota Imambara, the clock tower and the baradari.
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Hussainabad (Chota) Imambara
Just 500m up the road from the Bara Imambara is another tomb that was constructed by Mohammed Ali Shah in 1832, who is buried here, alongside his mother. Smaller than the Bara Imambara but adorned with calligraphy, it has a more serene and intimate atmosphere.
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State Museum
Enter through the zoo. Lucknow’s fine State Museum houses sculptural masterpieces dating back to the 3rd century AD, including intricately carved Mathura sculptures ranging from dancing girls to scenes from the life of Buddha.
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Zoo
The large, shady zoo is somewhat depressing, with animals pacing up and down in their small enclosures, but you must enter it if you want to visit Lucknow’s fine State Museum.
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Shah Najaf Imambara
The impressive Shah Najaf Imambara is the tomb of Nawab Ghazi-ud-din Haidar, who died in 1827, and three of his wives, including one known as Mubarak Mahal who was a European.
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Baradari
Near the clock tower is a baradari, a striking red-brick building, built in 1842, which overlooks an artificial lake and houses portraits of the nawabs.
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Nawab Sa'adat Ali Khan Tomb
Two large tombs honour Nawab Sa'adat Ali Khan (1798-1814) and his wife Begum Khurshidzadi. The tombs are next to each other and can only be viewed from the outside.
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Clock Tower
The 67m red-brick clock tower, the tallest in India, was built in the 1880s.
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