Appu Ghar

Appu Ghar was an amusement park operated by International Amusement Limited, located in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, 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, and it was inaugurated on 19 November 1984 by then-Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. The park closed down in 2008 after a legal ruling allocating the land for government use. Name Appu Ghar was named after its mascot, an elephant named "Appu", while "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 India's first amusement park was inaugurated in 1984 by International Amusement Ltd. (IAL) headed by Suresh Chawla, who orchestrated the entire project of APPU GHAR with Trade Fair Authority of India (TFAI) rebranded now as India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), Narinder Malik, a Sweden-based NRI and Gian Vijeshwar, another Sweden-based NRI with an aim to provide free access to underprivileged children. It was inaugurated on 19 November 1984 by Rajiv Gandhi then Indian Prime Minister, after his mother Indira Gandhi's assassination on the occasion of her birthday, this was his first public appearance. 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, Pragati Maidan. The park was opened under a very tight schedule as planned on Nov 14 1984.