DELHI GATE LAHORE TODAY: October 2015

by Tania Qureshi

Since Lahore originated, it witnessed the seasons of turbulence and tranquility. It remained a princely state and also got looted during riots. Fortunately, despite several attacks and ransacks Lahore remained in limelight during different rules and empires of the sub continent. This can be claimed as a city which gave birth to the stories of many writers, scenes for the painters and empires for the rulers. Lahore became a dream city in 1500s when the Mughal Empire settled in Lahore and made it one of the main capitals. That was the time when additions were made to the zenith and majestic buildings in galore and monuments gushed. Akbar, the Mughal emperor built a thirty feet high fortified wall around the city with twelve gates. A Mori was made during the British era which was given the status of a gate later, and now Lahore is known as a city with thirteen gates. Many of the gates have been demolished but almost five are still intact, which were rebuilt during the British era.

Lahore is the cultural capital of Pakistan and one of the largest living cultural centers of the world. This is the only Walled City of the world with natural settlement. One would find generations old traditions and values in this place and people living in the ancesteral homes called havelis. The entire structure of the walled city is based on Mohallahs, Koochas, Katras and streets. One would find the narrowest streets of the world inside the walled city of Lahore. The Walled City of Lahore represents centuries old civilization with contributions by Afghans, Tughluqs, Lodhis, Hindus, Mughals, Sikhs and the British. Remnants of these eras are still found in every street, nook and corner of the walled city. That’s why it’s a city of wonders and magnificence.

Lahore's architectural beauty and its cultural richness is to be found in every cranny of the Walled city: the wooden balconies and jharokas, the monuments which include mosques, Hindu temples and Sikh gurudwaras, the havelis, and the World Heritage site of Lahore Fort--all tokens of a rich and splendorous past. The city's ages old cultural character is to be found in its narrow winding streets, the color and hustle and bustle of its bazaars, the food and the numerous festivals. Till now the largest markets of Asia and world are found inside the walled city which include the spice market, shoe markets, cloth markets and many more.

Lahore walled city possesses thousands of buildings of architectural merit and historicity. After 1947 the beauty of the city could not be kept intact and several alterations and additions jeopardized the grandeur subconsciously. The greatest threat to the city’s heritage was the scale of endless commercialization. The eruption of wholesale markets of various goods that cater to Lahore at large, and to regional and national markets was another threat to the heritage and culture. But the economic power contained in these markets has little impact on the state of well being of LWC, as a vast majority of the profits made here are invested elsewhere. This factor has had a significant impact on the residential quarters at several levels: change of traditional land use; conversion or demolition of residential buildings; outflow of population historically (and culturally) associated with the walled city; and an influx of (low income) rural migrants seeking jobs in the metropolitan centre.

Against the backdrop of this prolonged neglect of the country's prime urban heritage, in 2005, the Government of Punjab launched an initiative for the conservation and rehabilitation of this historic city. At last the last sighs of the city were heard. A comprehensive Strategic Plan was prepared which recognized that the Walled City in itself was an object of conservation and redevelopment, and aimed to resolve the several planning conflicts that existed between the historic city and greater Lahore. Later the Aga Khan Trust for culture came in as a partner and a small project was converted into an autonomous Authority known today as Walled City of Lahore Authority.

The teams did not want to shelf the documents and studies made on the walled city so they planned to demonstarte the techniques of conservation in a small portion for which the area of Delhi Gate to Lahore Fort was selected. This area was known as the Shahi Guzargah or the Royal Trail. This trail had immense value in terms of the heritage and monuments. The Shahi Guzargah links many of the landmark monuments of the Walled City, including the Delhi Gate, Shahi Hammam, the Chowk Wazir Khan Wazir Khan Mosque, Sonheri Masjid, Chuna Mandi Girls College, the Begum Shahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort. The same route is enriched with havelis and heritage homes. The trail was named as Shahi Guzargah because some of the historians report that it was used by the emperors and Mughal entourages while coming from Delhi and going to Lahore Fort by passing the city.

The implementation of the Pilot Urban Conservation and Infrastructure Improvement Project—the Shahi Guzargah project—was launched in 2012 by the new Walled City of Lahore Authority. The first stage of this project, from Delhi Gate to Chowk Purani Kotwali just beyond the Wazir Khan Mosque, was restored, conserved and completed in 2015.

This project aimed at carrying out urban rehabilitation, urban conservation and upgrading of trunk and distribution infrastructure as facets of the conservation of cultural heritage in the Walled City.

In its interventions, the project has been an extremely complex but rich and rewarding one. Beginning from Delhi Gate, walled city of Lahore authority has restored a 383 meters long stretch of the heritage trail leading up to Chowk Kotwali. The trail comprises 54 streets, 655 Houses and 157 shops. The Project encompassed the rehabilitation of the street facades of nearly 850 buildings, and most of the repairs were carried out in traditional building materials such as kankar lime mortars and brick work using small historic bricks.

The new services include underground high voltage electricity (and the disappearance of messy tangled up wire-scape so typical of cities in South Asia), new orderly ways of distributing electricity connections to consumers, new telecommunications infrastructure , new gas delivery lines, new trunk water supply services and water supply networks in the tiny streets. To provide better standards of public health the sewerage network was separated from a new storm water drainage service. The project also included removal of shops and other properties that had encroached into the public right of way, and the provision of street pavement and urban furniture. The transformers destructing the views and monuments were removed and all the hanging wires were laid underground.

For the first time, the faces of two monuments Shahi Hammam and Wazir Khan Mosque have been exposed by removing the encroachments upon its façade. 57 shops from Shahi Hammam and 72 shops covering Wazir Khan Mosque have been permanently removed. The purpose of the removal of these encroachments was to bring the encroached monuments and streets back to their original glory.

With a cost of rupees 500 million, some of the lost glory has been brought back and the entire locality looks changed. There are tourists visiting the site and appreciating the efforts. I hope the same is replicated very soon in other parts of the walled city of Lahore to save the heritage and what is left.

(The writer is a media professional and can be reached at taniaq29@gmail.com)

By Nadeem Dar

From the Lahore Railway Station, going towards Do Moria Pul (a bridge with two openings) it takes hardly three minutes to reach the gigantic Delhi Darwaza (gate). It is a huge structure welcoming you to old Lahore, a dream city. This gate is one of the thirteen gates of Lahore. The gate, still intact and standing majestically, was built by the third Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1600s. These thirteen gates provided access to the city of Lahore which was once enclosed within a thirty feet high fortified wall, built by the same Mughal emperor.

The Delhi Gate, situated on the east of Walled City was named so because it faces towards Delhi, which was the capital of the Mughal Dynasty. During the Mughal era, and even some time later, this gate remained the main entrance to the city of Lahore.

During the British era, all the gates of the Walled City of Lahore were demolished and the area was turned into the circular road and circular garden which still exist today. The gates were reconstructed in early 1900’s by the British. This is one of the reasons why the existing few gates including Delhi Gate, have reflections of British Architecture.

The only Mughal Gate is the Roshnai Gate which is next to Maharaja Ranjeet Singh’s Samadhi. According to historic accounts and archival references, all the gates around the city of Lahore were built on the pattern of Roshnai gate, and while rebuilding the gates, the structures were reduced and modified.

The Delhi Gate has witnessed seasons of tranquility and turbulence. Once it enjoyed the status of the welcoming gate to the Royal City, and later in Sikh era and during British rule it served as the court of magistrate, jails and police station. The gigantic wooden doors, still intact in Lohari Gate, were also a part of the building, but according to researchers, the doors were either burnt or damaged during riots and War of Independence. During the Mughal era, the doors in these gates were closed after sunset when the city would go to sleep, thus allowing no access into the city. After 1947, the building of the gate was used as girls’ school which is still functional. The locals of the area also use the upper storey of the gate for marriages and religious ceremonies.

The roof of the ground floor interior of the Delhi Gate is dome shaped with six rooms. These rooms were used by the chobdars in Mughal era, magistrate and police in later eras. For some time after 1947, the rooms served as dispensary and health centers for the local community. Presently the rooms are being used by the Walled City of Lahore Authority as tourist information center. Any walking in tourist can easily get hold of a tourist guide, the facility is now there. One can still see the pigeons resting on the bordered windows inside the gate, a charismatic feature of Walled City’s buildings. Going to the upper storey one can see the recently conserved Royal Bath “Shahi Hammam” on the right side. It is said by the locals that when the gate was rebuilt, some of the portion of Shahi Hammam was demolished and included in the gate’s building. The existing Hammam is half of its original structure.

The upper storey of the gate, presently a school, has almost nine rooms, a courtyard and a huge hall. The same hall was used by the magistrate during British era, as the concrete raised platform is still intact, but now used by the teachers. The other rooms are serving as class rooms and science laboratories. The stairs, built on ninety degree angle, leading to the roof top are one of the most interesting features. The reason of such construction as told by a tourist guide was to reduce the climbing speed of the attacking forces, and yes one is breathless while climbing up these stairs no matter how healthy you are! The roof is plain and even, which gives a marvelous view of the old city and the Royal Trail’s vibrant bazaar. An old watchman of the school sighed that once the minarets of Wazir Khan Mosque were seen from the roof top of the Delhi Gate, but after the addition of several high rise buildings these are not visible now. The same watchman said that a couple of years back, the entrance of the gate was encroached upon by several temporary vendors, shops and shoe sellers. These shops and structures had over shadowed and damaged the gate’s building. Those encroachments were removed as a part of the restoration project of the gate which was completed in 2011 under a World Bank’s funded project.

Delhi gate has another unique feature “The Royal Trail” which makes it distinctive from the other gates of the Walled City. The Royal Trail was used by the Mughal Emperors while travelling from Lahori Gate of Red Fort in Delhi to the Lahore Fort. The Royal Trail leads you straight to the Akbari Gate of the Lahore Fort which is named after the Mughal Emperor Akbar. The stately monuments of the Walled City like Shahi Hammam, Chitta Gate, Dina Nath Well, Wazir Khan Mosque, Sonehri Mosque, Pani Wala Talaab and Mariam Zamani Mosque all are seen across the trail.

At the main entrance of the gate, on its left, there is famous food grain market “Akbari Mandi” named, again, after Mughal emperor Akbar. According to an Italian tourist who visited this market in the Mughal era, camels and elephants were commonly used to transport goods and food grains, which are now replace by other animals and man held carts. The same gate leads to the lively and rich Waan Market, Kasera Bazaar and Kashmiri Bazaar which are known for their antiquity and specialties. One can find antique crockery, traditional furniture and clothes in these bazaars.

Out of the thirteen gates, Delhi Gate, Kashmiri Gate, Sheranwala Gate, Roshnai Gate, Bhatti Gate and Lohari Gate are still seen standing magnificently around the Walled City of Lahore, but without the huge walls which joined them, whereas, Masti Gate, Taxali Gate, Mori Gate, Shah Almi Gate, Mochi Gate, Akbari Gate and Yakki Gate do not exist now. Some of these gates were burnt during the War of Independence and the others collapsed.