The college was established at the dawn of independence in 1948 by the efforts of Sir Maurice Gwyer. It was the first college established after independence with the foundation laid down by Lady Edwina Mountbatten a day before Women’s Day on 7 March in 1948. Sir Maurice writes in 1952 that “I have kept the name of this all-women college as Miranda House because of three reasons. The first was because my favourite actress is Carmen Miranda. Secondly, my own daughter’s name is also Miranda and lastly, the character in Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” was also Miranda”
Walter S.George, a team member of the chief architect of New Delhi- Edwin Lutyen designed the building of Miranda House along with two other buildings of the University of Delhi -Gwyer Hall hostel (oldest hostel,1937), St. Stephen’s College (1941) and other famous buildings like Sujan Singh Park (1945) and now closed Regal Cinema. The most prominent similarity in all of these buildings is the absence of plaster or cement to cover the red bricks.
The vision of Miranda House- swadhyayam pramaditavyam leads students towards introspection and self-learning the Upanishadic maxim in the college logo enshrines its understanding of what education must accomplish, as stated on the college website.
The anthem- “ho kala kshetra ya film jagat, har or hamare charche hai,naaz hame apne upar hai, naaz hame Miranda House par,is bar ko sara jag jaane,aazad dhara par ham janme asadi ke hum deewane ” fills them with pride.
Esteemed college of Delhi University-Miranda House outshines every time with its wonderful results ranking number one for the consecutive seventh time in the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) as the top college in India. Staying true to the words and tunes of their anthems-Mirandians(as alumnae are fond to call themselves) had left a deep impression in all areas. This prestigious institution has given the nation a total of 11 Padma awardees and notable alumni like Shakti Mohan, Sushma Swaraj, Sheila Dikshit, Nandita Das, Mira Nair, Ritu Menon to name a few.
Cover Photo Credits: instagram/@mirandahouse2018_21
