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THE HORN OF PLENTY
Belgian glass doors depicting the mythological
Horn of Plenty extends a tempting welcome
into the central Cadets’ Mess. An important
landmark of the NDA, it promotes bonhomie and
camaraderie. The concept of the single mess aims
at promoting joint Services togetherness. It is
a home away from home, where young cadets
break bread together and develop a stronger
esprit-de-corps.
Housed within an area of 145.2 x 28.4 metres, the
mess has a large dining hall with a seating capacity
for 2,100, three dedicated kitchens and a fully
functional bakery. Its inner walls are aesthetically
decorated with mounted swords, pistols, flags,
portraits and paintings while the central section
of the hall has a large dance floor and beautiful
reliefs of famous dancers from India and abroad
sculpted on Burmese teak panels by artists of
Mumbai’s J J School of Arts. Extended on both
sides as the West Wing and the East Wing in 1999
and 2000 respectively, it is the third largest mess
in the world and one of the exclusive symbols of
solidarity and jointmanship.
The architectural grace of Cadets’ Mess is a
perfect blend of artistic beauty and magnificent
craftsmanship in the Peshwa style. Construction
work on this historical mess started in 1949 and
completed in 1954 under the vigilant supervision
of W X Mascerenhas, the then Principal, College
of Engineering, Poona.
It started functioning in 1955 and the first
official dinner was hosted in honour of
Shri Morarji Desai, the then Chief Minister of
erstwhile Bombay State. The dignitaries who have
graced the mess on different occasions include
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Marshal
N A Bulganin, N S Khurushchev, Chou En Lai,
Gaffar Mohammed Nimeri, Mahavajilalongkorn,
Shri Rajendra Prasad, Shri Sanjeeva Reddy, Shri
A P J Abdul Kalam, Shrimati Pratibha Patil, Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru and Shrimati Indira Gandhi.
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