Ali Usman Baig : festival

(All pictures taken by the author shall not be used anywhere without permission)

Date of visit:- 14 October 2017

The extension building of the main Bhadrakali Mandir supposed to be constructed on the Instruction of Raja Ranjit Singh

Before the partition of 1947, the town of Thokar Niaz Baig was located 7 miles outside of the city of Lahore.

The history of this town is not much known; however, some references can be found in Tahrikh-e-Lahore, written by Kanhaiya Lal about a Bhadrakali Mandir, which was the main attraction of the town.

Dome of tall monument constructed on the instruction of Raja Ranjit Singh

On every Baisakhi, a major festival was celebrated at this temple. Baisakhi also has religious significance for the Sikhs community as the foundation of the Panth Khalsa on this day by the Guru Gobind. There was a place dedicated in town especially for this festival. It used to have a large pond and an old Banyan tree on the temple premises. Luckily, this Banyan tree still standing at this place. However, the pond disappeared from the scenes due to the construction of newly built houses.

Banyan tree in front is the place where Bhasaki festival used to celebrate before partition

Another close view of a Banyan tree

Before Pakistan came into being, the land of Niaz Baig belongs to Bhadrakali Mandir. The area has somehow an equal population of Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu communities. After 1947 most of the houses of this area allotted to migrated Mewati families. An old man of this cast told us that this place has many fruit gardens in which many seasonal fruits were available used to be available some sixty years back.

Around the Bhadrakali temple, many ancillaries’ buildings used to exist; also, there were four small temples (remains of one which still can be found), a step-well (Baoli), a Baradari-like structure for Pandits, an arched gateway, and the town was fortified as well.

The Stepwell Building

Stairway to step wells

Baradari like Construction (image 1)

Baradari like Construction (image 2)

Another prominent historical building of this town was a Mughal Serai. It used to be at present Katar bund road. Still a landmark of 'Serai' present on Google maps for this site. I visited Niaz Baig ten years back in search of this site but could not found any trace. This place has been long gone.

Also, there is a tall monument having a dome roof still present in Niaz Baig. This building looks more like a hall. Its construction attributes to Maharaja Ranjit. Singh. He orders in the early 18th century for this construction. The purpose of this structure was to provide food and shelter to pilgrimages. Unfortunately, the structure converted into a school building. From the top of this building,

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 1)

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 2)

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 3)

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 4)

Inside view of Dome

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 5)

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 6)

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 7)

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 8)

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 9)

view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 10)

Inside view of Tall Monument constructed in Raja Ranjit Singh Tenure (image 11)

I also saw a Samadhi surrounded by new house constructions.

At present, no trace of the main temple has left. One can only found remains of some ancillary buildings, which are also in an extremely dilapidated state.