Daily Times

How many of us know that the Samadhi of Sir Ganga Ram is located in Lahore? Most of Lahoris must be familiar with the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital as citizens go there there in emergency or critical health conditions, but have you ever tried to get into the background of this hospital and who constructed it? Let us first admit this fact that despite all the controversies, the history and architecture of Lahore cannot be separated from Sir Ganga Ram, who was one of the most respectable names when it comes to the beautification or welfare services in Lahore. You will be surprised to know that an era of history and architecture of Lahore is remembered and mentioned in books as ‘Ganga Ram period of Architecture’.

The dilemma is that many of us along with the new generation do not know who this man was. Nor did most of us try knowing about this revered personality nor where he lived during his life time and now where he is resting. I have two questions here before I start on with the topic. I would blame the social and education system of ours which neglects the heroes of past and trust me we should think beyond religion in such cases, as heritage has no religion and so I think that the heroes of the past also need to be treated the same way, neutrally as heroes are not made on the basis of colour, creed or religion. It’s their services to a nation, region or country and I think we need to be trained a lot to understand these facts.

The Samadhi of Sir Ganga Ram is located on Ravi Road, in the locality of Karim Park, very close to Taxali Gate of the walled city. The site is being looked after by the Evacuee Trust Property Board and is very well-maintained

I sometimes think that who the role models of our younger generation are. The reason most of the younger generation is confused about their role models is that we do not communicate the history and importance of people to them. So let us come to this respectable and eminent personality of the past today, Sir Ganga Ram and his final resting place, Samadhi of Sir Ganga Ram.

Sir Ganga Raam had served Lahore with his intellect and zeal for giving Lahore the best architecture which the world and architects admires today and which is a pride of Lahore and Pakistan. Sir Ganga Ram was born in 1851 in Mangtanwala, a small town about 64 km from Lahore. He had always been a brilliant student and in 1869, he joined the Government College in Lahore on a scholarship. I guess, Government College Lahore is lucky to have such students. Later, in 1871, he received a scholarship for the Thompson Engineering College at Roorkee, India. So to know about him in a line, he was an engineer and an architect by profession and it became his passion. Along with the professional work he was inclined towards welfare works as well.

He supervised the construction of high court, Cathedral and constructed the Aitcheson chief’s college and also gave Lahore new water works, for that, the city of Lahore is grateful to Sir Ganga Ram. He conceived the first ever Commerce College of Lahore, which is running till today, built and endowed the Maynard hall and Hailey hall for the Punjab University. During the period of his posting as executive engineer of Lahore, he designed and constructed the magnificent buildings. These included the majestic buildings of Lahore Museum, which remains a masterpiece till date, the famous and unique Mayo School of Arts which is now known as the National College of Arts and the building of which is used in several television commercials and serials, the General Post Office building on the Mall Road, the Albert Victor Wing of the Lahore Mayo Hospital and the Government College’s Chemical laboratory. Well all these stand today as the masterpiece of architecture and the strong structures could not be replicated anywhere after Sir Ganag Ram.

Now let me tell you that the most important contribution for the welfare of the people was the construction of Sir Ganga Ram hospital in 1921 and the hospital had a women’s wing, a dispensary and a girl’s hostel. This was the most important service he could do for us, as today in case of any emergency or critical situation in Lahore, that hospital serves the most. A medical college was built near the hospital which was later renamed as the Fatima Jinnah Medical College. Sir Ganga Ram earned millions but he donated all in charity. He also designed and built the Sir Ganga Ram High School which unfortunately was renamed as Lahore College for Women. He designed, planned and constructed the Model Town, one of the best and elites localities in Lahore. He was a promising agriculturist too. He leased thousands of acres of barren land in Montgomery and Lyallpur (Faisalabad) districts from Punjab government and by using engineering skills and modern irrigation methods, turned the barren land into fertile fields.

Now from all what you have read above, you can understand and well imagine the importance of role he had played in the history of Lahore. This city of Lahore will forever be indebted to him for all his services.

Once his statue was placed on Mall Road Lahore, but now you might not be seeing it anywhere. Are you thinking where did it go? Saadat Hassan Manto tells a painful incident related to the statue of Sir Ganga Ram in his writing. He writes, “During the riots of 1947, an angry mob in Lahore attacked the statue of Sir Ganga Ram. They first assaulted the statue with stones; then covered its face with coal tar, threw dirt and shoes on his face and later pulled down the statue. The police arrived to control the situation and opened fire at the violent mob. Some people got injured and among the injured was the severely injured fellow who damaged the statue and fell down with head injuries. Looking at him, the mob shouted: ‘Let us rush him to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital’ and then the mad mob took him there and he got the required treatment”…… Didn’t they know who had built that hospital? Still the importance of the man was not realised by them neither had they felt ashamed. Sir Ganga Ram died in London on the 10th of July 1927. His body was cremated and the ashes were brought back to the subcontinent, a portion of them was consigned to Ganga River and the rest buried in Lahore in his Samadhi on the banks of River Ravi.

Now the story of his Samadhi begins. The Samadhi of Sir Ganga Ram is located on Ravi Road, in the locality of Karim Park, very close to Taxali Gate of the walled city. The Samadhi of Sir Ganga Ram is being looked after by the Evacuee Trust Property Board and is very well maintained and repaired whenever needed. Some encroachments had previously been occupied by the nearby areas of the Samadhi but Evacuee Trust Property Board is now working to remove them. I am glad that Evacuee Trust Property Board has maintained the site so well.

If we talk about the structure of the Samadhi, it is an imposing one and was built in 1927 in the style of a Mughal Baradari and is topped by a raised bulbous dome. The exterior is a simple structure owing to renovation work following the damage done to the building during the riots of 1992, after the demolition of Babri Mosque in India. Evacuee Trust Property Board got the renovations done after the incident. The Samadhi has the cemetery where the ashes were buried and a board is placed there praising the contributions of Sir Ganga Ram along with a brief description about him.

The good thing is that there is also a dispensary being constructed inside the Samadhi, which Evacuee Trust Property Board is dedicating to this great man. Hardly few people among us know that the ashes of this great man are there in a Samadhi located in Lahore. This place should be made a part of the tour of Lahore so that the new generation gets awareness about the heroes of the past.

The writer is a media professional and can be reached at heritagechroniclestq@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, July 22^nd 2018.