Let me take you to a mesmerising haveli inside walled city today. Crossing the giant British built arches of Delhi gate Lahore and going on the royal trail with vibrant bazaars and Shahi Hammam on your way, you will come across a street named ‘Phoolan Wali Gali’ (flowers street). Make your way into this tunnel-like street and at the end you will see a wooden door and immediately take a left. For some time you will think it’s a haunted place because of the narrow dark doorway, but as you go up the stairs you will be in an unusual world. You will land inside a marvelous haveli named after a Hindu Raja, Dina Nath, who was the finance minister during Ranjeet Singh’s rule in Punjab. The open courtyard, pigeons perching on balconies and jharokas, dog sitting on one side, children plating around, female residents hiding themselves behind the dusty curtains in the arches, men coming out to see who is there upon barking of the dog, fountain pond in the middle and washed clothes hanging on wires, will greet you as you enter the haveli! I must admit that I am in love with this haveli since long but the dilemma is that it’s poorly maintained. Had I been the owner of it, I would have converted it into some café having groovy, romantic lights, with karaoke going on and traditional cuisines being served by waiters wearing cultural attires. The setting of the courtyard always makes me imagine all this.
This is one of the spacious Havelis inside the Walled City constructed in a typical Sikh architecture and this feature of haveli reflects its time of construction. The total area of the Haveli is 47 marla with nineteen rooms and two basements (known as sard khana) including verandas and an open space backyard. An underground tunnel also exists in the Haveli, which is now closed.
The roof top houses pigeons in huge cages as it’s a common feature among the residents of Lahore. Most of the houses inside walled city have these huge sky touching pigeon cages as they are involved in pigeon fights and competitions.
The open courtyard, pigeons perching on balconies and jharokas, dog sitting on one side, children plating around, female residents hiding themselves behind the dusty curtains in the arches, men coming out to see who is there, fountain pond in the middle and washed clothes hanging on wires, will greet you as you enter the haveli
The Haveli is a compelling piece of architecture. The yellow painted structure with a huge platform and basins of fountain was typical Sikh architecture with arches, balconies carvings, and fresco work and worship places. The ceilings of this haveli are an interesting feature which has wooden patterns along with mirrors. Such ceilings are seen inside Lahore Fort and also in the haveli of Nau Nehal Singh, the Victoria school. This cut work of mirror and wood in the ceilings is taken as an expensive embellishment, so it endorses that the builder was an important and rich person. Apart from the ceilings, the walls of the Haveli still have fresco remains, very clearly visible in different rooms. The residents have painted the fresco with white wash in all the rooms but the sharp colours still reflect under the white wash in other parts of the Haveli. There is a mezzanine floor which is now closed by the residents. There are arches in the center hall and it is said that Diwan Dina Nath used to hold his court there. Around the main hall, which is now converted into a drawing room by the residents, there are small rooms used as bedrooms, dining rooms and sitting areas by the residents. The residents have traditionally decorated it with crafts and pottery which is very typical of old Lahore.
Fortunately this haveli is a tourist spot. The residents are very welcoming and they generously treat the tourists by serving them traditional juices or tea (doodh pati). If you take the guided tour of the royal trail with a tourist guide of Walled City of Lahore Authority, you can easily see this haveli, but beware of the dogs! The present residents are living in it since last sixty five years and before her, the same family got the haveli allotted after partition. At the time of partition only five families were residing in this Haveli but three of them had moved out to other parts of Lahore some years ago. The resident told me that their ancestors had found many antiques and record books in the lockers and cabinets found in the mezzanine and basements, which were sold or given away by the family. They must be ignorant of the value of those things, I thought.
Unfortunately some parts of the haveli have been modified by the residents which made me sad. The most interesting basements have been converted into cemented rooms and family members are using them as bedrooms and store rooms. Now the basement has lost all its original fabric, which was there till couple of years ago, and one can’t say that there were small temples and prayer areas in the basement. I was sad to see that. The basement should have been preserved.
Now let me tell you who Diwan Dina Nath was, who made this embellished haveli in the center of the city. Diwan Dina Nath belonged to a Kashmiri Pandit family living in Delhi. In 1815 Maharaja Ranjeet Singh had invited Dina Nath to Lahore and offered him the post of mutsaddi, or writer, in the department of military accounts. In 1826, after the demise of Diwan Ganga Ram, one of Ranjit Singh’s courtiers, Dina Nath succeeded him as the head of the military accounts department and keeper of the privy seal and in 1834 he became the head of the civil and finance office. Maharaja Ranjeet Singh awarded the honorary title of Diwan to Dina Nath in 1838, which meant the custodian of finances. Diwan Dina Nath was one of the signatories to the treaty which was made between the Sikhs and the British after the First Anglo-Sikh War, which was fought between the Sikh empire and the East India Company between 1845 and 1846. Later, when a council was constituted in December 1846 for the governance of the Punjab, Raja Dina Nath was made its president, with the active support of the British. He was well and a happily-styled Talleyrand of the Punjab and his life and character bore a strong resemblance to those of the European statesmen. Raja Dina Nath died in 1857 near Kot Khawaja Saeed, at Lahore, Pakistan.
Now you can imagine the importance of the person to whom this haveli belonged. I think it should be conserved to its original structure and developed into a useful spot on Royal Trail. Another idea is to ask the residents to open up a small, nicely managed and hygienic restaurant or café in the haveli so that the tourists visiting the place can have a true feel of a haveli.
The writer is a media professional and can be reached at heritagechroniclestq@gmail.com
Published in Daily Times, May 26th 2018.