Kingdom of Dreams!
Gurgaon, a hi-tech city in India is now home to a new international travel destination. Touted as India's answer to Sydney's Opera House, Paris's Moulin Rouge, Singapore's Esplanade and London's Broadway , Kingdom Of Dreams aims to become the ultimate live theatre and leisure hub in the world with the technological wizardry of modern era.
India’s first live entertainment spot, Kingdom Of Dreams exhibits a complex blend of India’s art, culture, heritage, craft, cuisine, and performing arts.
Sprawling across six acres of land and run by the Great Indian Nautanki Company, KOD has two theatres - Nautanki Mahal and Showshaa Theatre. Other highlights of the Kingdom are the cultural street named as Culture Gully and Patli Gully, a spiritual walkthrough adorned with numerous idols of Indian gods including a massive 110 feet long sleeping Buddha.
The design of Nautanki Mahal, the 846-seater state of the art theatre, mimics a grand Indian palace. Every bit of the outside wall is carved with Khajuraho-inspired exotic figurines and the windows are beautiful stained glass. Showshaa Theatre is a 250-seater, air-conditioned, dome-shaped amphitheatre. A grand and colourful drama porch with a maypole like tent roof and interactive seating is intended to showcase lavish productions of the ancient Indian epics.
Culture Gully is another boulevard spread across 90,000 square feet showcasing diversified architectural designs, iconic of several Indian states aimed to have street performances, artisans and handicraft stores. There will be theme restaurants and over 350 exotic food preparations by certified chefs from over 14 states of the country.
Credited to be the visionary behind Kingdom, Viraf Sarkari, one of the directors says, “I dreamt of building a world-class musical stage and the best theatre in the world, engulfed in the colossal grandeur of India. Nothing could have been better than the portrayal of an imposing palace, bringing to life the Indian traditional architecture.”
“The challenge was handed to us clubbed with an excellent hurdle on way,” discloses Kunal Kuwadekar, the architect behind the project from Naren Kuwadekar & Associates. “The company took on lease, an under-construction auditorium from the State government to develop the centre. The existing structure, which was not supposed to be totally dismantled, had to be doubled in length, breadth and height. Adjustments to site conditions were paramount. ”
Roof & Façade Asia is a trade publication published from Singapore and circulated within a qualified readership in the building industry in Asia .