Wednesday, 29 August 2018

Fatehgarh Gardens that is no more


25-08-2018

As the eldest in my family, I had awesome adventures traveling with my grandparents when I was young. We visited Fatehgarh in Lahore a lot, where one of my grandfather's brothers lived in the 1980s. Their house was close to Fatehgarh Garden, which my grandpa said used to be an old Mughal garden. 

These beautiful Mughal gardens used to be in Fatehgarh. Sadly, they're not around anymore as a whole, but you can still spot pieces of them in some houses and buildings in Fatehgarh today. There were two main gardens there.

The first one, much bigger, was made during Jahangir's or Shah Jahan's time. It was huge, with a square shape and an extension on one side. Some parts of its walls and towers are still standing, but most of it got lost as new buildings came up. It had a fancy entrance in the middle of one wall, which was quite special. There used to be a cool building called a baradari, but it's not there anymore.

The second garden, smaller, is said to have been made by Dara Shaikoh. It had a tall entrance on one side and a fantastic building called a baradari in the middle, surrounded by a pool. The entrance and the baradari had beautiful paintings on them. Outside one of the walls, there was a big well that gave water to the garden. Some parts of the entrance from this garden are still in a house in the area.

In one corner, there's a round base with a grave on it. It used to have its original colors, but now it's changed with tiles added. People around there say it's the grave of a saint named Syed Peer Charagh Ali Shah, who they think lived over four hundred years ago. But when I visited recently, I saw that the area is mostly taken over by drug users who messed up the remaining parts and changed the look of the base. It looks more like a tomb now. Also, a part of the garden wall is within the area of the Syed Peer Charagh Ali Tomb.

The left left pedestal converted into shrine

 
The last left part of Garden wall 
Pedestal in original Shape and colour  2015,  picture credit Kashif Ghurki


                               

Pedestal in original Shape and colour  2015,  picture credit Kashif Ghurki

Brick wall constructed over old bricks foundation of garden


Curious Drug Additcts

Bardari that is no more,  Picture source 



Old picture picture source Lahore city of Garden



Shrine Compound

Old picture of Baradari that is no more