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)
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| 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.
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| Now owned by TANYA PALTA |
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| 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.
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| Part of Temple, Serai Building |
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| Out of four domes that used to be present around the Shivala only one is left behind and stands in a decrepit Condition |
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| Not sure about this Samadhi, to whom it belongs |
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| 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.
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| A picture from 1880, a garden was built around the Shivala and pond seen in front |
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