Padma Shri Yogeshwar Dayal was an advocate and former Justice of the Supreme court, born at Lahore in the early 1900s. He commissioned the Art Deco style building – Shankar Terrace at the iconic fountain chowk in Chandni Chowk, in the memory of his father, Lala Shankar Dayal, which was built in 1936, as a commercial complex – a modern typology for its time. The Dayals resided in a haveli of Raja Jugal Kishore at Chandni chowk before moving to Janpath at Dayal & Co. Shankar Dayal’s father, Advocate Prabhu Dayal was invited to Delhi for the Durbar of 1911.
Yogeshwar ji, who belonged to a family of advocates and justices, was also a businessman, landlord and art connoisseur. He is best known for reviving ‘Phool Walon ki Sair’, an interfaith festival where a procession starting from Nizzamuddin, ends at Mehrauli. He also commissioned Sangeet Bharti, to introduce Kathak Dance to introduce Kathak Dance to the people of Delhi in late 1930s. Until his death in 1992, he remained committed to Arts and Culture, having organized the 2500 Buddha Anniversary Festival and setting up Tagore centenary exhibition, amongst many other cultural initiates. It is said that Dayal had been influenced in his life greatly from Lala Ram Roop, another businessman, a prominent figure in Delhi and a Modern Art advocate.
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References : Yogeshwar Dayal Aur Dilli, Usha Kumar, 2005 Acknowledgements : Usha Dayal Kumar