Daily Times

LAHORE: The tomb of Nadra Begum, located near Mian Mir, is in ruins and in the absence of playgrounds in the area, locals use the premises for playing cricket and other sports. At night time, the tomb becomes a shelter home for the homeless people.

The structure of the tomb is in a moldering state and no staffers from the Archaeology Department of Punjab can be seen at the monument to look after the historic site.

The fountain channels and the pavilion at the tomb now serve use as the pitch where teams from the neighbourhoods around the tomb play cricket. The stairs leading to the rooftop are in a dilapidated state but still people can be seen going up and coming down without much concern for their safety.

Officials privy to the information tell Daily Times that the tomb was declared as a protected monument in 1956 and since then it has been the responsibility of Department of Archaeology to work for its upkeep and conservation. In 1956, a comprehensive scheme was framed by the department for its repair and restoration, but nothing has been done till now, they say.

Researcher Faizan Naqvi says that the poor of affairs shows from the fact that the plaque with information about the history of the monument has deteriorated the extent that the text is no longer readable. “No one has ever shown any interest in rewriting the text.”

Nadra Begum was the wife of Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh, one of the sons of Emperor Shah Jehan. He served as the governor of Lahore in the 1640s.

“When Dara Shikoh lost the battle of Deorai, he and his wife tried to run away to Iran Nadra died out of exhaustion (in 1659) and Dara sent back her body to Lahore for burial. Nadra Begum was buried near the shrine of Hazrat Mian Mir, who was revered as the spiritual guide by Dara and Nadra,” Naqvi says, adding that the interior and exterior of the tomb was embellished with Ghalib Kari and various geometric patterns in red, black and green colours. He says most of the patterns have disappeared and only traces can be found which affirm the presence of the traditional Mughal style. “Today, the tomb retains a simple and blank façade and the activities around have deprived the poor princess from the eternal peace”, he laments.

Architect Nayyer Ali Dada expresses his grief over the poor allocation of funds for culture and heritage in the province. “There are several monuments in the city awaiting conservation and preservation. Our government departments should contact international donors and agencies like UNESCO for support in the conservation by presenting authentic cases and research. This is a general problem here in Pakistan that we lack awareness about the importance of the heritage and little is done for it. We need right people with expertise and we should surely involve agencies like Aga Khan Trust for carrying out the work on heritage as they have done good work and saved Shahi Hammam and Picture Wall from being ruined. We need to pay attention to heritage before we lose all that is left with us,” he says.

An Archaeology Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity says plans are in the pipeline to start conservation work at the tomb in July.

Published in Daily Times, April 21^st 2018.