11th September 2022
Before the partition of 1947, the town of Thokar Niaz Baig was located 7 miles outside of the city of Lahore.
The history of this town has yet to be discovered; however, some references can be found in Tahrikh-e-Lahore, written by Kanhaiya Lal about a Bhadrakali Mandir, which was the main attraction of the town. On every Baisakhi, a major festival was celebrated at this temple. Baisakhi also has religious significance for the Sikhs community as the foundation of the Panth Khalsa on this day by Guru Gobind. There was a place dedicated in town, especially for this festival.
Thokar Niaz Baig was also once a walled city, the fortification walls designed to tackle intruders' attacks, also it used to have two tall elegant entrance gates. After the Partition of Hindustan many migratory families settled in this area and built new houses with old bricks of the walled city.
With the passage of time, one entrance gateway completely disappeared, however, the other entrance gate still stands, I visited and photographed that gate back in 2022 it was in a dilapidated state cracks appeared in the roof and walls. There is Imam Birgah construction going nearby and they rehabilitated the gate in an ugly manner by completely doing cement plaster on the structure.
