BEDI MAHAL AND STORY OF MOHINDER P SINGH

May 19, 2016

One of my friends Adnan Alam Awan shared a status on his Facebook timeline, it was a message sent to him by an Indian citizen named Mohinder P Singh. Mohinder was born in Kallar Sayedaan district Rawalpindi present now in Pakistan before the partition of united Hindustan till 1947. 

Hi Dear Adnan Alam Awan,

I belong to Kallar Sayedaan , Dist. Rawalpindi. I saw some pic of you from Kallar Sayeddan. We lived in Chadian da mohalla, behind the Fort of the Bedi family. there is a big fort and Damdama Sahib in it. My father’s name was Chowdhry Santokh Singh. He was a known figure any old person can tell about him. I am interested if I can get a pic of the house where we lived. Only some old person of Kallar Sayedan can tell. Hope u can help me in this. Thanks

Mohinder P Singh

New Delhi, India”

I was at Kallar Sayden just two days before seeing this post If I read this before there was a possibility that I might able to find the ancestral home of Mohinder P Singh. Though a lot has been changed now in Kallar Sayden, except the historic Bedi Mahal no pre-partition building has been left. 

My purpose for the visit to Kallar Sayden was to capture one of the marvelous Haveli of the Sikh Era i.e. Khem Singh Bedi’s haveli also known as Bedi Mehal.

Khem Singh Bedi’s haveli is located in Kallar Syedan and is a remarkably attractive structure. It exudes calmness, still standing tall in the face of years of change.

  

The haveli was turned into a school for boys after 1947 and was still functional till about 10 years ago. The school since has moved to another location, but in the years that it was used as a school the staff and the children had taken reasonable care not to deface its heritage value.

In this magnificent haveli, one can still see paintings of Sikh Gurus and Hindu deities. This includes a painting of Baba Sri Chand who was the eldest son of Guru Nanak.

Most of the rooms in Khem Singh Bedi’s haveli are adorned with paintings. Paintings of Sikh women bundled with jewelry looking in a mirror or holding an arrow. There is also a colorful painting depicting the golden temple in Amritsar. For those who don’t know, the golden temple is a holy site for Sikhs.

Khem Singh Bedi was a notable of his time and one of the leaders that began the Singh Sabha movement in the late 19th century.

The haveli he built is made of red brick and has 22 rooms and three basements. As mentioned, most of the rooms have beautiful frescos, paintings, and carved woodwork.

The Haveli has a focal yard with oriels and corridors that lead to galleries, wooden doors, and amazing fireplaces. The roof can be accessed via a spiral staircase and gives a serene view of the whole town. 

The haveli inner architecture is quite similar to Nounehal Singh haveli and Dhian Singh haveli situated in Lahore

Khem Singh Bedi himself, however, cannot be considered a patriot. History tells us that Khem Singh was instrumental in helping the British in crushing the 1857 Indian rebellion in Gugera, a town close to Okara.