Kala Mahal of Shahdara and false Stories of Paranormal Activities

17 July 2022

(All research and photos  by the author)

The historic town of Shahdara is in the northern suburbs of Lahore, and one can reach there after crossing the river Ravi. In the 15th century, it was the entrance gateway of the Lahore and Mughal emperors. It is mainly famous for historic Mughal architectural sites, Mughal gardens, and the Tomb of Jahangir, the Mughal Emperor, his wife Empress Nur Jehan, and his brother-in-law Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan. After the construction of these historical monuments, Shahdara town also started to expand, and before the partition of 1947, a diverse community comprising all religions was present here. 

In Shahdara town, a neighborhood by the name 'Pari Mohalla' still exists. In 'Pari Mohalla' before partition Khatri clan of the Hindu community used to live here and most of them were associated with the gold business in Hindustan. They constructed some amazing residential buildings, which comprised elegant architectural elements. 

One such building in this vicinity was 'Kala Mahal', which was once considered the most attractive architecture in this neighborhood. Originally, it was a three-storey high residential building constructed mostly of Nanak Shahi bricks. One can still see the remains of precisely carved brick arches, wooden door frames, and stylish windows. All the walls were thirteen and a half inches thick above the plinth level. 

After the partition of 1947, almost all the Hindu families of this neighborhood left for Hindustan, and the property of this Mahal was alloted to migratory Muslim families who came from the other side of the border. The current owner of this place is Mr. Nasir Kharia. He was born in Kala Mahal and lived almost all of his life there. He shared that over time cracks started to appear on the roof. It was dangerous to continue to live under this building. So, Nasir and his family left the place and dismantled the roof for new construction. It was a joint property and Nasir only constructed a new residence in only a few areas of Kala Mahal land. A dispute arose between his siblings about selling the remaining land, and ultimately the property could not be able to sell at all. 

Due to its decrepit condition, loose construction material from time to time started to fall from already crumbling walls and when it hit the ground it creates noise as well, it was only a few years back that People started to fabricate false paranormal activity stories about this building. These false stories spread like a forest fire and people from different cities started to come to visit this place. Media teams and vloggers were also not behind everyone wanted to associate haunted activities with this building. I saw one of the lowest acts in this regard on the UrduPoint.com Youtube channel, whose anchor named Ruvaiza Rajpoot did a video documentary on this building. She asked the neighborhood children to drop stones during the recording in front of the camera just to show a paranormal activity was going on in this complex. Also, a member of his team did acting to pretend that some paranormal creature had grabbed his neck. Adopting the faux documentary style just to attract more viewership, is a wrong practice and could only be partially successful.

Sarai Pukhta also named Sarai Shaikhan

17-06-2018
From Shahdara the Grand Trunk road moves northward passing through Rana Town where, until they were both filled in 1987, there were two baolis next to the present GT road. From Rana Town, it takes a turn to cross Nullah Deg at Bahamanwali/Chak 46. The crossing is still marked by an ancient bridge and ruins of Sarai nearby.

From here it went straight to Sarai Shaikhan (also called Pukhta Sarai).Where a magnificent paneled gateway and an ancient well stand in ruinous condition. Underground in one of cells lies an escape tunnel which is filled with mud.

In, Sher Shah Suri tenure (A.D. 1539-1552),  Suri Sarais were built a distance of two Kos apart with stepped wells (Baolis, vaips, van or vao) an Kos minars at more frequent intervals between every two Sarais.  Structurally, a Sarai comprises a space, invariably a square space, enclosed by a rampart with one gateway called Darwazeh. As these ramparts were built with sun-dried bricks, they were referred to in later year as Kacha Sarais and compared to pakka or Pukhta Sarais of the Mughal period which were built of burnt bricks or stone blocks. Each Sarai had rows of cells (khanaha) on all four sides. There were special rooms, one in each corner, and invariably in the center of each well as well. These were called Khanaha-i-padshahi, i.e., King’s House or Government House reserved for state personal on the move. There were separate Khanaha or cells for Muslims and Non Muslims.  Each served by attendants of their respective faiths. Inside each sarai there was a mosque and a well. Revenue- free land (madad-i-maash) was attached to each sarai to meet the salaries of the staff and other contingent expenditure.

The Sarai acted both as wayside inn for travelers and an official dak-chowki. Each sarai was run by an official called Shahna or Shiqdar with a number of caretakers to assist him. There was an imam of the mosque and a muzzin to call to prayer. Hot and cold water, together with bed-steads (charpai), edibles (khurdani), and grain and fodder for the horses were provided by the Government free of charge. A physician was stationed at every sarai to look after the health of the people of the locality. Bakers were also settled in the sarais.