Ali Usman Baig : haunted

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.

Elevation has taken from narrow street of girls school

03-08-2018

Title:-

Mandir in Model Town Lahore

Shiv Temple

Shivala of model town Lahore

Hindu Temple in Model Town Lahore

Purpose:-

Hindu Worship Building

Location:-

Model Town Circular Rd, Block D Model Town, Lahore, Punjab

31°29'23.37"N, 74°19'7.12"E

Year of Construction:-

Not accurately known, it is said that it was constructed somewhere between the years, 1920-25.

The symbol on the front wall is known as "OM" in Hinduism, all rituals in Hinduism start with "OM". This calligraphy is the message of "OM"

Brief Synthesis of Architecture of Temple:-

By Ali Usman Baig

The current temple was considered one of the examples of modern architecture of its time. On the ground floor, you will see column beams of bricks present this element further reinforced with steel bars. Modern Kiln Bricks are used in ground floor construction, which is further plastered with lime.

The structure consists of a single-story square “Sanctum” which was designed for placing the housing deity. In the sanctum room, a corner squinches portion is filled with extended flower bouquet elements made of lime. Around all four sides of the sanctum assembly hall for devotees present in Hindu terminology it is called “Ayatana”

From the square sanctum structure main temple curvilinear spire (tower, sikhara) is raised, which is a common type of northern Indian Shrines (Latinas). For the construction of the curvilinear spire small dimensions of bricks are used which are different from the ground floor of the temple.

A crowning ornament on the top of the shikara is present; it is called “Amalaki” in Hindu terminology this support an embedded spire that might be gold plated at the start of its construction.

On external walls of temples, you will see a double facet and a vertical offset projection. In Hindu temple architecture it is called “ratha”.

In front of the main temple building, there is a dome-shaped structure present, on first impression it looks like a Sikh Samadhi. However, it is said that this building was used by the Pandit of the temple as a residence.

Haunted and Paranormal Activities:-

This mandir main complex is closed with 15 ft high walls on three sides, whereas on the fourth side there is a girl school building present, the only way to reach this mandir was left from inside of this school in form of a narrow path. The mandir site is abandoned for more than half a century nobody normally enters inside. Interestingly except for my blog you will not find any picture of this mandir that has been taken from inside. I went peacefully and did detailed photography to document the place. When I came out, the watchman of the adjacent school started a conversation with us, I was appreciating at least a boundary wall is constructed to protect the place from further collapsing. But his answer left me in a paradoxical condition that a boundary wall is not made for the protection or conservation of this site. Adjacent neighbors in recent years have observed serious paranormal activities happening inside this temple. I wished to accuse the watchman that he should have told us this before allowing us to visit but I thought nothing is done now.

It looks like Smadahi to me but it is believed that it was the entrance of the mandir

Another view of the Temple was taken from the courtyard of the adjacent girl's school

Integrity and Current Condition

The current condition is very bad the ground floor column, beam, and slab were demolished in response to Babri Masjid Shaheed in 1992; the structure is dangerous to visit from inside and could be collapsed at any time

View taken from adjacent Houses

Inner Domes

History of Model Town

Source Parkash Tandon

For the first generation of professional men in Punjab, it had been the natural thing after retirement to go back to the place they came from, and spend their last years as a respected elder, village, or small town society. But father’s generation had grown away from their background, for them it was a question to find a congenial place to settle down. While I was still in England my father retired from service and built himself a house in Model Town, a suburb six miles out of Lahore.

Model Town was a place, the like of which had never been and will never be seen again. It was almost entirely populated by retired government officials, who all addressed each other as Rai Sahib, Rai Bahadur, Khan Sahib, or Khan Bahadur, Sardar Sahib, or Sardar Bahadur.

Somebody had conceived the idea in 1925 of acquiring a big tract of jungle wasteland, a few miles out of Lahore, dividing it up into plots, and constituting it as The Model Town Co-operative Society. Everyone who bought a plot became a member with a vote in the Society. The plan of the town was completely geometrical. It had a series of concentric circular roads, crossed by four main roads at right angles, and smaller roads in between, all beginning from the inner circle and dividing the area into equal segments. The roads had no name, but the blocks were alphabetically numbered so that our address was 12G while the house opposite was 12F. To the old school of thought, this was quite enough to paint on the gate. Later arrivals started giving their homes poetical names.

The big circular area in the middle was common property and traversed only by footpaths. Only thorny shrubs grew there, but it was intended to become a public park. On its periphery have marked the sites for the library, school, Barat Ghar for housing wedding parties, and other public institutions. Only the club, the hospital and dispensary, and the women’s club had been built so far. There were several private schools. Special areas were set apart for markets and shops. There were a mosque and a temple, perhaps the most attractive examples of modem religious architecture I have seen in India, and a Sikh Gurdwara. For practical measure, there were also cremation and burial grounds.