Appu Ghar

Appu Ghar was India's first and most popular amusement park located in New Delhi, the capital city of India. It was opened by Shri Gian Vijeshwar and Mr Suresh Chawla in 1984 to commemorate the 1982 Asian Games, which were held in New Delhi. Appu Ghar was inaugurated on 19 November 1984 by the then Prime Minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. It was the first of its kind in India when it started, and has come a long way since then and successfully created a niche for itself.

Appu Ghar was located in the famous Pragati Maidan on Mathura Road, and was spread over 15.5 acres (63,000 m²) of land. Entry to Appu Ghar was from Gate No. 4 of Pragati Maidan.

Mascot and Name

Appu Ghar was named after its mascot, an elephant. "Appu" is the name of the elephant and "Ghar" means house in Hindi. Appu was a live elephant mascot that became the star of the 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi.

History

Inaugurated on 19 November 1984 on the occasion of the birthday of former Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, 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 Limited (IAL), with its registered office at Gate No. 4, Pragati Maidan.

Appu Ghar has had a chequered history since its inception. The India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), which owns Pragati Maidan, leased the land to IAL for three years in 1984 to run and operate Appu Ghar. Subsequently, ITPO kept on extending 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 urgently needing land for extension and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for construction of the Delhi Metro's Pragati Maidan Metro Station, the Government allocated the land to both the parties.

Finally, in 2007, the Supreme Court ratified the Government's decision to hand over the land, paving the way for Appu Ghar's eventual closure on 17 February 2008.

Major Attractions

The major attractions at Appu Ghar 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 fairy Lady and others.
• Games on snow like skiing, sledding, ice boating and others
• A water park spread over an area of 3.5 acres (14,000 m²)
• Swimming pool
• The Tower of Thrills
• Hi Waves

External links

• Official Website of Appu Ghar
• Latest News on Appu Ghar Sanyo, Inc. traced the Appu after its closure on 17th Feb 2008. See the latest photographs of our appu on the URL