Appu Ghar was an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

operated by International Amusement Limited, located in

Pragati Maidan Pragati Maidan is a venue for large exhibitions and conventions in the city of New Delhi, India. It has an area of nearly 150 acres (more than 625,000m2) of exhibition space, being among the biggest exhibition centers in India. It is owned, ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

, India. It was spread over of land and was India's first amusement park. It was established in 1984 to commemorate the

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games ( hi, 1982 एशियाई खेल) were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of t ...

, and it was inaugurated on 19 November 1984 by then-

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India ( IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of th ...

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to bec ...

. The park closed down in 2008 after a legal ruling allocating the land for government use.

Name

Appu Ghar was named after its

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...

, an elephant named "Appu", while "Ghar" means house in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

. Appu was a live elephant mascot that became the star of the 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi.

History

Then-Indian

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, Indira Gandhi, assigned the task to create India's first amusement park to International Amusement Ltd. (IAL) headed by Narinder Malik, a Sweden-based NRI and Gian Vijeshwar, another Sweden-based NRI with an aim to provide free access to

underprivileged children Social privilege is a theory of special advantage or entitlement, which benefits one person, often to the detriment of others. Privileged groups can be advantaged based on education, social class, caste, age, height, weight, nationality, geographi ...

. It was inaugurated on 19 November 1984 by

then Indian Prime Minister, after his mother Indira Gandhi's

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

on the occasion of her birthday, this was his first public appearance."Delhi in 70 years."

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

, 15 August 2017. Appu Ghar quickly became a crowd puller for the residents of the Indian capital as well as those of neighbouring towns. It was formally opened under the aegis of International Amusement Ltd. (IAL), with its registered office at Gate No. 4,

. Narinder Malik organized all machines along with their installation at Pragati Maidan with the help of Surinder Malik as engineer, architect Sharad Dass and builder Suresh Chawla under a very tight schedule due to the commitment of a 14 November opening, the total park was set up and implemented in 3 months which was a record and was inaugurated as planned on Nov 14 1984. The

India Trade Promotion Organization India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), headquartered at Pragati Maidan, is the nodal agency of the Government of India under aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India) for promoting country's external trade. ITPO is a Mini-Ratna ...

(ITPO), which owns Pragati Maidan, leased the land to IAL for three years in 1984 to run and operate Appu Ghara. sequently, ITPO kept on tending the lease to IAL till November 1999, when it last expired. In 1999, ITPO asked IAL to vacate the land, at which point the private firm sought legal arbitration with ITPO to continue with Appu Ghar. Meanwhile, with the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India (IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

urgent needing land for extension along with the

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) is a centre-state joint venture that operates the Delhi Metro. The DMRC is also involved in the planning and implementation of metro rail, monorail, and high-speed rail projects in India and abroad. T ...

for construction of the

Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colour ...

's Pragati Maidan metro station, the Government allocated the land to both the parties. In 2007, the Supreme Court finally ratified the Government's decision to hand over the land from IAL, paving the way for Appu Ghar's eventual closure on 17 February 2008.

Appu Ghar Group

The Appu Ghar Group/International Amusement Ltd. also has a mix of amusement and commercial activities in Noida,

The Great India Place The Great India Place is a shopping mall in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is popularly known as GIP Mall. It is one of the largest malls in the country. The mall features a wide selection of national and international retail outlets. This g ...

and Worlds of Wonder; Adventure Island a similar project on a 62-acre parcel of land in Metro Walk, Rohini, Delhi. And finally Appu Ghar Jaipur, a 300-acre project currently under construction in Rajasthan.

Major attractions

The major attractions at Appu Ghar in Pragati Maidan were: * Various rides for children * Swinging Sensations - This part features several rides and games like the Big Splash, the Roller Coaster, the Columbus Jhoola, the Giant Wheel, My Fair Lady and others. * Games on snow like

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ...

sledding Sledding, sledging or sleighing is a winter sport typically carried out in a prone or seated position on a vehicle generically known as a sled (North American), a sledge (British), or a sleigh. It is the basis of three Olympic sports: luge, sk ...

, ice boating and others * A water park spread over an area of * Swimming pool * The Tower of Thrills * Hi Waves *Haunted House

References

External links

* {{Amusement Parks in India Buildings and structures in Delhi Amusement parks in India 1984 establishments in Delhi 2008 disestablishments in India Defunct amusement parks Tourist attractions in Delhi Water parks in India Amusement parks opened in 1984 Amusement parks closed in 2008 20th-century architecture in India