Haveli Mian Khan (RANGMAHAL SCHOOL) (2022)

 Govt. Rang Mahal High School, Lahore

11th July 2022

Haveli Mian Khan was located between Rang Mahal and Mochi Gate.

Its construction was begun by Nawab Saadullah Khan of Chiniot, who was the Prime Minister of Emperor Shah Jahan, but it was completed after his death by Nawab Mian Khan, his son.

This haveli consisted of three parts - Mahal Sarai, Rang Mahal and Kalai Khana.

Rang Mahal was later converted into Rang Mahal Mission School in the days of the British Raj.

The size of the haveli can be gauged by the fact that 10 wells supplied water to it.

The Foreman Christain college was initially based in this building, which was leased by Dr. Charles with the support from foreign missions. In 1889, it was shifted to Napier Road and was inaugurated by Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne. Again, in 1940, the college was moved to its present campus on the banks of the Lahore Canal.

Remnants of Gurdwara Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Amar Saddhu Lahore (2022)

 09th July 2022

Amar Saddhu is a very big bus stop on the Lahore-Ferozpur road. The railway station is Kot Lakhpat.

The sacred Gurdwara of Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji is located on the eastern side of the village (now part of Lahore city).

It is also known as Gurdwara Bibi Kaulan. Guru Hargobind had come here from Guru Mangat and stayed here for some time with Bibi Kaulan.

In the beginning, it was a simple Gurdwara, then in Samvat 1979 (1922 AD) Bhai Ganga Ram, with the initiative of Bhai Mohan Singh Akali, had the Gurdwara and it's well repaired.

17 kanals of land were endowed to Gurdwara Sahib in this village. A fair held in the month of Saawan. The condition of the Gurdwara is in decrepit the graves of a pir and his horse have been constructed within the compound of Gurdwara.

Sarover

Old picture 

My visit to Gurdwara Baoli Sahib Site, Lahore (2022)

BAOLI SAHIB (ROOFED WELL) SRI GURU AMAR DAS LAHORE

Gateway of the Gurdwara

11th July 2022

My grandmother was born in a walled city in Lahore near the  Masjid Wazir Khan and spent her early childhood before moving to a locality near Chuburji.  My grandmother used to do her all-important shopping from Rang Mahal and Dabbi Bazaar. I always used to accompany her on these visits being the eldest grandson.  I have been glimpsing the Baoli site for more than 30 years, the tall banyan tree was always used to be my center of attention. 

Gurdwara Sri Baoli Sahib Lahore is situated in the famous busy market of Dabbi Bazaar in the center of Lahore city.

One side of this Gurdwara adjoins Rang Mahal Bazaar and Dabbi Bazaar, the second is adjacent to Laha Bazaar, the third opens on Kesera Bazaar, and the fourth borders to stay there. It is situated close to the birthplace of Sri Guru Ram Das Ji in Chuni Mandi, opposite Multani Muhalla, and is at the back of the Sonehri (Golden) mosque.

Gurdwara Sri Baoli Sahib Lahore was built here in 1599 AD when Bhai Chajju Bhagat came along with a Pathan to pay his respect to the Guru and put a bag full of 142 gold mohars at the feet of the Guru, requesting him to utilize the money for religious works.

Guru Arjan asked where the money had come from. On this, the Bhagat narrated the story thus: 'My Pathan friend from Bukhara gave me this bag to keep in safe custody but my accountant (munim) forgot to register this money in his ledger (Vahi-Khata) and by the passage of time, I too, forgot all about it. When the Pathan came asking for his money, I refused to pay as my records mentioned nothing of the sort. The case was taken to the official (Hakam) and the Court of the governor of Lahore where the Pathan lost his case.'

'But while cleaning the shop before Diwali, I found the bag. I put an extra Rs.100 therein and try to return the same to my friend with apologies. But the Pathan refused to take it as he had lost the case. He couldn't consider the money as his and neither could I take it as mine. That is why we have brought the money to the Guru's darbar'. The Guru appreciated their truthfulness and built a baoli with the money.

The compiler of "Tawarikh-e-Guru Khalsa", giving a historical account of this Gurdwara, writes, "At the time of departure of Guru Sahib to Lahore a big dispute was on. A Pathan of Bukhara was leaving on an expedition and in haste, he entrusted a purse containing 142 gold coins to the charge of Chajjoo Bhagat. He had opened his shop just then and his clerk had not arrived as yet. Chajjoo took the purse, placed it in the safe, and forgot all about it. The Pathan returned after a lapse of many months and demanded back his money. Chajjoo denied it outrightly since there was no entry of this transaction in his account books. The case went to the court of the governor of Lahore and the Pathan lost the case. It so happened that after a few days. Chajjoo found the purse of Pathan while he was checking and cleaning his safe. He immediately went to the Pathan with his wallet as well as a gift of a shawl and apologized. The Pathan refused to accept the purse saying that he had lost his claim and as such had no right over it. When both of them refused to accept the money, they decided to go to Guru Arjan Sahib Ji in Samvat 1616.

Many years later, however, at the instigation of Diwan Jaspat Rai, this holy Gurdwara was demolished by Yahaya Khan, the Nawab of Lahore, and was turned into a residential quarter.

In Samvat 1685, this baoli was filled with earth. In Samvat 1891, during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Baoli was restored when a florist informed him about it. Maharaja Ranjit Singh (in 1834 AD) had a new building erected with a Sarovar. Shops were built on all sides to bring revenue for the management of this Gurdwara. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had a Darwaza built near the baoli as a memorial. Bhai Nihal Singh was made responsible for the Sewa of this place.

In 1903 AD Sri Guru Singh Sabha Lahore started weekly congregations here. When Bhai Attar Singh visited this Gurdwara in 1911 AD, he started the daily recitation of Asa di Var. In 1927 AD the Gurdwara came under SGPC management, but the congregations at the time of Gurpurabs were held by Singh Sabha Lahore. At the time of partition, Bhai Dalip Singh was martyrized here on 11th August 1947.

A rostrum (Thara) still stands as a remnant but the baoli has been desecrated after the 1947 partition. This baoli has once again been lost, only a small garden remains with shops around it where the people take rest.

More recently, Gurdwara Sri Baoli Sahib is known as Baoli Bagh as the area has been turned into a leafy garden and park.

(Reference of history taken from Discover Sikhism site)

Char tukar Jabal - Aurore, Sindh, Pakistan (2020)

27.615037,68.917099

 Date of Visit 02/22/2020

Arore Rock

Aror or Alor or Arorkot is the medieval name of the city of Rohri. Aror once served as the capital of Sindh.

These hills were not as barren always, you'll find traces of old river channels most notably a few kilometers east of Rohri, where the city of Aror once stood with its pomp and glory. It was the seat of power when Muhammad Bin Qasim conquered Sindh. However it was destroyed by a powerful earthquake in 962 AD and it is believed that the same earthquake changed the course of Indus, shifting the fortunes of the area once and for all.

This rock formation split neatly into four parts (the name literally means 4 pieces hill) has an interesting local legend affiliated with it, According to the legend, a saint did battle with the Hindu deity kali upon this hill & the force of the blow of his sword caused the hill to split into four. The saint is said to be a disciple of Hazarat Ali R.A
A small shrine exists at the bottom of the hill where he is supposed to be buried.

Gurudwara Chhevin Patshahi,Minhala,Distt Lahore (2015)

Date of Visit 06 January 2015

All photographs are taken by me

The village Minhala is located in P.S. Burki of Lahore district. A road starts from )alto Mor and leads to the town. Wagons and Tongas are readily available. The sacred shrine of Guru Hargobind Ji is in this village. Gurdwara Sahib is located by a big pond of water on the right-hand side of the entrance to the town. Once this pond used to be the sacred tank of the Gurdwara Sahib. The building has collapsed but only one tower is still standing. It too may collapse at any moment.

All text is Text taken from 'Historical Sikh Shrines in Pakistan by Iqbal Qaiser'

A Hindu Temple in Pind Dadan Khan (2015)

Visited this place on April 5, 2015

Pind Dadan Khan lies six miles south of the Khewra Salt (Salt Mine), 24 miles east of Lillah-Toba road between the M2, and 8 km east of Pither Nadi. Its borders with Khushab, Chakwal, Sargodha and Mandibahudin.

During British rule, it became the capital of secession and tehsil with a similar name in the Jhelum region of British Punjab. It was located in the Sind-Sagar branch of the North-Western Railway. The municipality was established in 1867 and most of the money was collected by the British authorities as octroi. The village of Nandana near Pind Dadan Khan is where Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al-Biruni came and founded the laboratory where we are now

A pre-partition Hindu still stands in Pind Dadan Khan, it was used by the Hindu community for their religious rituals before 1947. It is in an extremely dilapidated state because no step has been done for its restoration or protection. 

Jamek Mosque of Kuala Lumpur (2017)

December 05, 2017

The mosque was built on the location of an old Malay burial place at the confluence of Klang and Gombak Rivers and was named Jamek Mosque. A couple of mosques previously existed in the Java Street and Malay Street area serving the Malay communities, but Jamek Mosque was the first large mosque to be built in Kuala Lumpur.

The foundation stone of the mosque was laid by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sir Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah on 23 March 1908, and the Sultan officially opened the mosque on 23 December 1909.

The mosque has since been enlarged with extensions built, and the originally open-air forecourt roofed over. One of the domes of the mosque collapsed in 1993 due to heavy rain but has since been repaired.

On 23 June 2017, the mosque was renamed Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek Mosque by Selangor's Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah after his ancestor — the fourth Sultan of Selangor Sultan Abdul Samad — as the mosque was originally built on land that was part of the state of Selangor.

The architect was Arthur Benison Hubback who designed the mosque in the Indo-Saracenic style, loosely reflecting the Indian Muslim Mughal architectural style.

The design of the mosque has been described as Moorish, Indo-Saracenic, or Mughal architecture. A. B Hubback also designed a number of building in similar styles, such as the Kuala Lumpur railway station and the Ubudiah Mosque in Kuala Kangsar.

The mosque has 2 main minarets among other smaller ones; the pattern of pink and white banding of the minarets, formed of brick and plaster, has been described as "blood and bandage". The mosque has 3 domes, the largest of which reached 21.3 meters (70 ft) in height. The prayer hall is located beneath the domes. The mosque was refurbished in 1984 and the minaret nearest the river was underpinned as it was already sloping.

Jamek Mosque, officially known as Sultan Abdul Samad Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in the city. Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. The mosque was designed by Arthur Benison Hubback and built-in 1909 near the Klang and Gombak rivers.