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
The then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi assigned the task to create India’s first amusement park to International Amusement Ltd. 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. 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., with its registered office at Gate No. 4, Pragati Maidan. 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 14th 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, 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 along with 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. 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.
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.
