The Wheeler Senate Hall is a convention centre of the Patna University situated in the heart of Ashok Rajpath,

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

History

The structure was built to host Patna university meetings, convocations and other functions. Raja Devaki Nandan Prasad Singh of Munger had offered to meet the entire cost of building the senate hall in 1925 and had spent nearly 1.75 lakh on the hall. It got ready in 1926 and was inaugurated the same year by the then Governor of Bihar and Orissa province and Chancellor of the University Sir Henry Wheeler. Before the construction of the senate hall, meetings, conferences and convocations of the Patna University were held at different places in the city. During the first five years of PU's existence from 1917 to 1922, it was allowed to use a wing of the

Patna High Court The Patna High Court of Judicature at Patna (commonly known as Patna High Court) is the High Courts of India, High Court of the Indian state, state of Bihar. It was established on 3 February 1916 by British colonial government and was later aff ...

as its temporary office. Meetings of the faculties were held in the hall located at the new college, now known as Patna College, while senate meetings were held in the conference room of the Patna Secretariat. University convocations were held in the Durbar hall of the Governor House, present day Raj Bhavan building prior to wheeler Senate hall. The aesthetically designed spacious structure with magnificent pillars and high ceiling hall has witnessed such eminent personalities as

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

, Sarojini Naidu,

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ''Vallabhbhāī Jhāverbhāī Paṭel''; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime ...

, C. D. Deshmukh, V. K. R. V. Rao, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

, who addressed university convocations here. Scientists like

Jagadish Chandra Bose Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (; ; 30 November 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a polymath with interests in biology, physics and writing science fiction. He was a pioneer in the investigation of radio microwave optics, made significant contributions ...

, Sir C. V. Raman,

Meghnad Saha Meghnad Saha (6 October 1893 – 16 February 1956) was an Indian astrophysicist and politician who helped devise the theory of Thermal ionization, thermal ionisation. His Saha ionization equation, Saha ionisation equation allowed astronomers to ...

Satyendra Nath Bose Satyendra Nath Bose (; 1 January 1894 – 4 February 1974) was an Indian theoretical physicist and mathematician. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, in developing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statist ...

and Sisir Kumar Mitra once addressed university students and faculty members. It is in this hall that poet

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

was felicitated on 17 March 1936 soon after he won th Nobel prize. Besides, many historic public meeting held here in 1946 in which

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, the first prime-minister of India, had to face embarrassment owing to then communal disturbances in the state.

Present day

The Wheeler senate hall located at Ashok Rajpath in the state capital is engaged these days mostly for university examinations. Some senate meetings or exhibitions are also held. With a seating capacity of 1,000, the senate hall has undergone numerous renovations.

References

{{coord missing, Bihar Patna University Buildings and structures in Patna Convention centres in Patna 1926 establishments in India Buildings and structures completed in 1926 20th-century architecture in India