𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐚𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞: 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱

 Date of Visit:- 22 April, 2018

(Most of the pictures were photographed by myself: the text was taken from an Article by Majid Sheikh  for Dawn News and different sources from the internet)

Part of Temple, Serai Building

The Lahore Gazetteer of 1884 termed it as one of the city’s major ‘serai’ along with that of Sultan Thakedar’s one in Landa Bazaar and the Anarkali ‘serai’, where today stands the dilapidated Delhi-Muslim Hotel. The reason it was termed as a ‘serai’ was that Dewan Rattan Chand also built to one side housing for the new British officers who came to Lahore. In return he made the ‘patwari’ of Lahore confirm the land to his name as the maharajah had promised him the land.

The Lahore Darbar of Maharajah Ranjit Singh had an array of very talented men from all over the Punjab-men of letters, of arms, of commerce, and then there were scholars and analysts. He would consult at least three to four persons on any matter of importance before making up his mind.

The maharajah liked to ask young and old, and often he would pose the most vexing questions to the numerous young children of courtiers that were present. His view was that the innocent often solved the most difficult problems. “Simplicity is not the virtue of those in intrigue”, he would often comment. One of his favorite young children at court was a boy by the name of Rattan Chand, and the Maharajah called him Rattan Chand ‘dhariwala’ to distinguish him from his namesake. When he came of age, he was known as a wise young man and was greatly respected for his views. He was officially called Lala Rattan Chand Dhariwala. He was appointed to various positions, all of which he served with The man who served the maharajah with distinction was Lala Rattan Chand.

Once in about of affection for the loyalty of the man he was gifted two things with the instruction: “One is for your future generations, and the other is for this city to which you now belong”.

For the family, he gifted a set of jewelry of rare Iranian jades which experts had informed him were from the famous ‘Takht-e-Sangin’ temple on the right side of the Oxus river (Amu Darya). Experts recently claimed that it was part of the famous Oxus Treasure, most probably from the second century BC. He had ‘acquired’ it from an Afghan member of royalty, who had ‘acquired’ it from Central Asian sources. h distinction.

Now owned by TANYA PALTA

Now owned by TANYA PALTA

TEMPLE, POND & SERAI

During the reign preceding Maharajah Ranjit Singh, the area outside the Shahalami Gate had been laid wasted by conflict. The various Sikh chiefs, who began constructing huge ‘havelis’ inside the walled city, plundered the bricks from vacant houses. Very soon the area was a huge empty ground, and it was at that time that Lala Rattan Chand wanted to purchase it. He was opposed by Sikh chiefs who felt that too large and important a track of land was being given to a mere boy. The maharajah decided not to allot it to anyone. One version has it that the maharajah promised that if it was allotted in his lifetime, it would be to him. As a special gesture, he allotted him a smaller piece to build a temple as a first step.

So Lala Rattan Chand set about leveling the wasteland and then he built a wall around his possession. On the four corners of the walls, he built four structures with Sikh-style domes. In the middle, he built a temple perched on a platform raised above the ground. The temple dome was raised to a considerable height, making it among the finest in Lahore. Outside, he built a series of houses and shops, and even before the British arrived, the road was called Rattan Chand di Sarak.

Part of Temple, Serai Building

Out of four domes that used to be present around the Shivala only one is left behind and  stands in a decrepit Condition

Not sure about this Samadhi, to whom it belongs

The Shivala spire was damaged during the riots after Babar Masjid incident

The ten years after the death of the maharajah saw considerable fighting within the Lahore Durbar. In this period, Lala Rattan Chand consolidated his position and kept the status quo, thanks to his connections with the ‘patwaris’ of those days, all of whom feared him. When the British took over, he immediately switched sides and put in an application that the late Maharajah had promised him this additional land. The British immediately allotted him his “promised” land.

The British were short of residential accommodation, and Lala Rattan Chand provided them with ample housing, “at very reasonable rates”. Within a few months, he had managed to get allotted the entire gardens that were to make the garden, tank and temple of Rattan Chand a major feature of Lahore. Lala Rattan Chand was among the very first Punjabi bureaucrats to join the British administration of the East India Company.

The water tank was made in such a way that it surrounded the temple. The water for the Shivala was brought through an ingenious system of very small canals. The gardens laid out were well-watered and green all year round. Its fruit trees were well-known in the city and a nursery of sorts developed at this point, where today exists the dusty Bansaanwala Bazaar. Lala Rattan Chand died in 1872 and the road right up to the Mayo Hospital crossing was named after him. Once the Mayo Hospital was built, a major portion of the road was named Hospital Road.

POST RANJEET SINGH ERA

After the death of the Maharajah in 1839, he continued his position in the Lahore Durbar. He was appointed the postmaster-general of Punjab in 1846.  During British rule, he became the honorary magistrate of Lahore in 1862. He was then bequeathed the title of Dewan in 1865 and was one of the first Punjabi bureaucrats to join the British administration of the East India Company.

DEATH

In 1862 he was made the Honorary Magistrate of Lahore. In 1865 he was made a ‘Dewan’ and hence his last official name was Dewan Lala Rattan Chand Dhariwala. Born in 1808 in Lahore,

He died in Lahore in 1872 and his creation of a beautiful temple and a tank became part of Lahore’s landscape. The fruit trees became well-known, and the local population was given a free hand at picking fruit as long as they ate them on the premises.

After his death in 1872, his son immediately sold off these houses to Hindu traders of Shahalami Bazaar. These became warehouses (godowns as we call them from the word ‘go-da’am’) and when 1947 came enraged Muslims knocked them down for their bricks. Very few historic structures survived the loot by the new migrant traders who even knocked down major portions of the ancient city walls for bricks to construct new houses and shops. The sole shop of the Rattan Chand era is the one which once belonged to a ‘tabla maker’, who in turn was forced to sell it to a ‘second-hand nylon sack vendor.’ After all, trash makes more money than a musical beat.

So it was that at Partition Lahore lost not only a rare set of ancient jade jewelry, but it also led to the senseless destruction of a beautiful water tank and a temple. Today few know just who Dewan Lala Rattan Chand was despite his sterling contribution to Lahore. But then his old pre-1947 family house inside Shahalami Bazaar near Rang Mahal was recently attacked when the Babri Mosque incident took place. The reason is merely that it is still remembered locally as ‘Rattan Chand da Makan’. The occupants defended themselves by reciting the ‘kalima’ in front of the attackers. It is amazing how religious hatred gets ingrained.

A picture from 1880, a garden was built around the Shivala and pond seen in front 

another picture of the decrepit spire of Shivala 

another picture of the decrepit spire of Shivala 

another picture of the decrepit spire of Shivala 

another picture of the decrepit spire of Shivala 

another picture of the decrepit spire of Shivala 

Sanctum of Shivala now surrounded by concrete jungle

Difficult to take the good frame of Spire of shivala all ready surrounded by new concrete construction 

It was a huge complex comprises of Shivala, ponds, and Sarai... in picture staircase which was part of Sarai now occupied by migrant families 

Arched entrance 

Old brick must be part of Sarai

Another Old Construction 

View of decrepit sarai 

Part of Sarai

Closer View 

Another view 

Old Wooden Door 

Room for devotees 

Part of Sarai 

Part of Sarai 

Now a playground once a pond of Shivala complex exists here 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

𝐀 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 & 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐛 𝐨𝐟 𝟐𝟒-𝐃

06th April 2018

A dilapidated tomb, which looks to be of historical importance, stands in a graveyard outside an unnamed village four kilometers from Shergarh. The village is designated with the number 24-D. This village is located on the dry bed of the old  River Beas. 

The history of this site is totally unknown and a sort of mystery as well.

Unfortunately, only a little investigation has been ever done by historians in this regard. Moreover, you hardly find any photographs or documents written about this tomb. The edifice looks like a mausoleum constructed in the sixteenth Century. 

My introduction to this edifice came from one of my friends Adnan Tariq, who is a resident of Depalpur and has a keen interest in history.  A few years back he send me pictures of this tomb to know my opinion on the history and architecture of this site. 

I was amazed to see this Structure at first sight. Adnan and I had long conversations for months, and we wanted to dig some clues, so we might able to understand the history of this place. Adnan's grandmother was from the 24-D village, he used to come to this village from childhood. Adnan's grandmother told him many times that some,  40 years back there was another mausoleum of similar dimension situated in front of This place has historical importance the nearby union council of Sher Garh is one of the most historic towns of the district. The 16th-century governor of Multan, Fateh Jang Khan, named the town after the Afghan ruler of India, Sher Shah Suri, who built a mud fort and had an encampment around the town. The tomb might belong to Fateh Jang Khan. 

LOCATION 

The halting place known as Madrasa by the locals has situated about Four Km north of the village of Sher Garb and 18 Km South-West of Depalpur in District Okara. A metalled road approaches it from the Sher fiarh and Mustafabad villages. The tomb place lies in the center of a modem graveyard and on the southern side of the present village Chak 24 D.

HISTORY

The history of Punjab in the medieval period is replete with the rise and fall of dynasties, with invasions and wars. But in contemporary accounts which are mostly embellished with details of kings r.d ministers, little light is thrown on cultural changes affecting the life of the inhabitants in a specific area during a particular period of history to understand the impact of diverse cultural elements in different areas

Numerous architectural remains scattered throughout Punjab reflect styles, characteristics of the dynasty, or a period of history like the Tughlak, Lodhi, Suri, and Mughals. The monument standing in Chak No. 24 belongs, most probably, to the Suri Period ( 1540 - 1556 AD).

PRESENT CONDITION

The edifice exists despite the passage of considerable time over the centuries. However, the symptoms of deteriorating masonry on the plinth level up to a dangerous extent are prominently evident both in interiors and especially in exteriors.  

Architectural decorative features at laces are missing due to the disintegration of country brick masonry. The fissures in the upper-level masonry both internally and externally are visible and are an eyesore of the edifice. 

In many places cracks due to settlement and missing various portions give a shabby look. Erosion of poor mud mortar from the joints of the masonry is also an eyesore of the edifice and a cause of rapid deterioration of the masonry.

ARCHITECTURE

The tomb-like edifice named Sarai/Halting place is commonly known as Mudrasa. It is octagon in shape, which is further crowned with a low-height dome resting on a circular high drum. The walls of the edifice, according to the plan are 8' -9'' ft wide and are 25ft high from the ground level to the base of the drum of the dome. The four direction walls are longer (25ft) as compared to the remaining four flanking walls (I 3ft) but are higher than the longer walls. All the long walls on four sides consist of a main pointed arch recessed decorative panel with a rectangular panel all around.   

In the center of each main recessed arched panel, four-pointed arched opening panels with rectangular panels all around have been created on ground level to serve as main entrances. Over the main entrance openings, four recessed rectangular decorative panels have also been created two of them are further created into pointed arch openings in an alternate order. The four flanking walls are 8' -9'' in thickness as compared to the four direction walls which are 6 ' - 7" in width. In the center of each flanking wall, two pointed arched niches within recessed rectangular panels, one above the other, have been created. In the center of the above-arched niches, a smaller pointed arched opening within a rectangular recessed panel has been created, serving as a ventilator. 

On either side of each flanking wall, three more decorative panels (two of them one above the other from the ground level are recessed pointed-arched panels, while the third one on the top rectangular one) have been created. These decorative panels have been created half on each corner in a way connecting the four direction walls with flanking walls diverting each wall at a 45° angle to form the octagonal shape of the edifice.   

It has raised panels or chamfered comers like the tomb of Daud Bandgi Kirmani at Sher Garh and Mir Chakar's tomb at Satghara in Okara district.

Two recessed pointed arched niches, one above the other, have been created internally in the rectangular recess panels on each corner of the edifice.

At four directions on the ground level, four arched openings have been created, while in the above eight, recessed arched niches further smaller recessed arched openings panels in all eight arched niches have been created.

On the lower portion in every eight flanking corners, two recessed decorative panels have been created while on the upper level in all eight flanking corners, recessed quenches have been created.

To differentiate the upper and lower portions, two rows of extended tiles run all around the internal surface, creating a strip/band.

The drum of the dome is 33'-3" in diameter, externally having a circumference of 104'-6". In order to differentiate the lower dome and the comparatively high drum, a decorative band in the shape of an extended tile has been created to enhance the beauty of the edifice. All the masonry work has been laid in a Mughal pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Old Mound at Khokhar Bhuddu Village Kamoke

18th February 2023

Punjab historically has been divided into regions based on its various rivers, since the name Punjab is based on its five main rivers. Rachna doab includes all the areas between the Chenab and Ravi Rivers, from the Jammu Division to their confluence in Punjab, Pakistan.

Rachna Doab has always been rich in crops, water, and ideal weather; these favorable conditions have always been suited to human civilization to habitat this region since old times. The evidence of human settlements from different periods still can be found today in the form of mounds in Rachna Doab. Khokhar Bhuddu village exists ten kilometers west of Kamoke city. The village is present on an old mound site. One still can see remains of mounds just outside of this village in the graveyard that exists on a high elevation area. The exact time period of this mound does not known. 

Location Map

𝐀𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐤𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐭

07th March 2018

(All photographs and text used in this article are author's property, please take prior permission if needed of using them)

An elegant, traditional, and unique style of the shrine is present in Chiniot city. The shrine has four significant structures on its premises; two tombs, one minaret of the mosque, and one arched entrance to the shrine.  

Tomb-1

The first tomb is designed in the shape of a rectangular pavilion arcade that looks to be inspired by the Mughal architecture ‘Baradari” design; however, it has seven arched gateway openings on one side and six on the others. These arches run inside the pavilion as well. The repetitive nature of the arches gave an overall look of rhythm and symmetry in pattern, a sense of unity and continuity, and overall exquisiteness in architecture. Each arch is pointed cinquefoil type which is characterized by five cusps or pointed arches forming a floral shape. The arch is typically seen in Gothic architecture. The arch is raised from the impost.

In the front elevation, the Spandrels above the arches are decorated with floral motifs created most likely with plaster or lime mixture. However, the spandrels lying inside the pavilion are adorned with floral mural patterns painted in oil.

Above the spandrels, a band of brown tile runs all around the front facade, on the center of which a floral molding is present on all four sides.  

Exterior cornice molding: a decorative feature seen at the junction of the exterior façade and the roof. It is made by adjoining two C-Shape sections on the same axis but opposite directions made in plaster the outer edge is painted in green color.

On the edge of the roof, a small height of parapet wall runs along the periphery, which is constructed by installing tiles; these tiles having shaped like pointed arches; a common style inspired by Mughal architecture.

The corner columns are circular and fluted in style, with a series of parallel grooves carved into the surface and floral embellishments at the bottom.

On each corner of the roof slab, a small minaret also has been installed. 

On the ground floor, in the middle of rectangular pavilion graves are present around which walls are raised in squares to form a tomb. An entrance door is present in the center of this tomb. On the first floor, a quadrangular dome is raised; a type of dome structure that has a square or rectangular base instead of a circular one.

The most interesting and unique feature of this tomb, which, I haven’t seen elsewhere in Pakistan is that a square base lifted in the form of walls around 07 feet in height above which a dome is raised. On the front of these square walls, one can see a trademark of Chinioti's workmanship of creating an immaculate design of archivolts. A series of ornamental moldings form decorative bands around a blind arch in the center. This archivolt is composed of a series of arch bands, featuring intricate decorative patterns of floral motifs.

On the corner of this quadrangular dome, fluted pillars are present having balconies and dome shape moldings on the top.

An amalaka is a segmented or notched stone that sits on the top of Hindu temples, that represents a lotus. A molding of a similar design is present on the top of the quadrangular dome. Also, a finial is raised from the apex of the amalaka.