07th March 2018
Wood has continued to be used in architecture
throughout history and remains a popular building material to this day, thanks
to its versatility, availability, and sustainable nature.
The city of Chiniot is renowned for its wooden
craftsmanship, there are hundreds of shops and small factories present in every
corner of the city, where state-of-the-art wooden furniture is manufactured. In
the past, the Chinioti wooden craftsmen's name was considered a trademark all over
the united Hindustan for crafting various structural and decorative elements of
architecture made of wood.
However, the use of wooden craftsmanship
declined with the advent of modern building techniques and materials but has
since experienced a resurgence of interest as people have come to appreciate
the beauty and durability of traditional wooden structures.
I came across one such residential building in
Chiniot constructed of small-size bricks probably Lahori bricks (100 mm x 150
mm x 20 mm). At the entrance, an enchanting wooden door adorned with a
decorative floral pattern on top of which three layers of wooden archivolt
runs. The archivolt was complementing the surrounding outer band of arches
constructed in bricks. Along this, a heavily crafted wooden arched window is
present at elevation. In Chiniot this style of entrance door used to be common,
and they called it “Saddar Darwaza” in their language.
The entrance further takes you to a quadrangle
veranda, all four walls of which gave one the impression of visiting an art
gallery adorned with embellishments and lime moulding elements. These elements
enhance the appearance and aesthetic appeal.
The three walls of the quadrangle veranda have
symmetry in design and a pattern sense of mathematics in each element. Each
side of which has three wooden doors having wooden ventilators at the top. The
wooden ventilator has two parts; a wooden frame inside of which has intricate
carvings of floral mesh design. In Chiniot this is called “Gira ka kam”, a high
level of hand craftsmanship, skill, and artistry required in crafting this.
Nowadays computer-aided machines made this job easy.
Inside of wooden frame a glass consisting of
several small pieces with different colors assembled in a floral design
pattern, which looks ornately decorative. In Chiniot this is called “Shisha
Kari”, a high level of skilled craftsmanship which is elegantly and
aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Further to that each wall was decorated with
several embellishments. A moulding in the shape of an arch and column was
constructed probably with lime plaster framed around each wooden door and
ventilator. On the crown of each arch, a flower can be seen, which is crafted
in lime plaster.
There is another series of moulding that runs
in the shape of the band at the junction of the roof and wall all around the
veranda.
The fourth wall has a similar design of
mouldings, however, instead of three doors, two windows are installed on each
side, and in the middle wall, a fireplace is present.
On the vacant wall surface, sophisticatedly drawn mural work can be seen.
On the inner surface of the extended shade, a
wooden false ceiling comprising several small parts was assembled and
installed. Each wooden tile has a specific floral pattern in the middle.
I visited this place in 2018, the house was
owned by the famous Sheikh family of Chiniot. The owner was an aged man, he
shared his father was a famous businessman in Chiniot his businesses were
expanded all over the united Hindustan. Of his siblings there were two elder
sisters, who were married and living in Dhaka for a long, he did not marry
and he was the only one left here; he was sad that who will take care of his
father's property after him.
I started writing an article on this
building in February 2023, almost five years after my visit to Chiniot. Today I
called my friend in Chiniot just to inquire about the health of that man, he
told me the aged owner died a few years back and now his house is locked from
the outside.
The building was a “Jewel of Chiniot” a true
specimen of craftmanship and artistry of Chiniot Workmanship. I don’t know what
will be future of this building and how long it going to survive.
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🅔🅝🅣🅡🅐🅝🅒🅔 🅖🅐🅣🅔 |
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🅕🅡🅞🅝🅣 🅔🅛🅔🅥🅐🅣🅘🅞🅝 |
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🅠🅤🅐🅓🅡🅐🅝🅖🅛🅔 🅥🅔🅡🅐🅝🅓🅐 |
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The late Owner |
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The Late Owner & My friend Art Chiniot |
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Wooden Ventilator and Glass Work |
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🅠🅤🅐🅓🅡🅐🅝🅖🅛🅔 🅥🅔🅡🅐🅝🅓🅐 |
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Wooden Doors |
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Another View of Verandah |
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🅠🅤🅐🅓🅡🅐🅝🅖🅛🅔 🅥🅔🅡🅐🅝🅓🅐 |
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The Late Owner |
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My Friend Art Chiniot |
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Author |
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Author |
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Another View |
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Another View |
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Wooden Falseceilling |
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View from Street |
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Standing with Late Owner |
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Amazing Workmanship |
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View from Street |
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The Late Owner |
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