Another ignored treasure
I just stepped into a narrow doorway by chance while walking through the Rang Mahal and Kasera Bazaar, but never knew where I would end up. Amidst that jam-packed commercial area I could not believe what I saw; a huge garden but poorly maintained. That was the Baoli Bagh (garden) I got to know later on by the vendors sitting outside that narrow doorway. The garden was more like a motor bike stand on one side and on the other some addicts were happily enjoying their life and light moods. In the middle of the garden was a huge, aged tree, which I liked as the only thing there to be admired at all. On one side of the garden was the office of some health centre and the brown and green plants were moving with the cold winds. Yes, I could also see the minarets of the Golden Mosque and, amazingly, I figured out that the mosque shared the same wall with the garden. Actually I was at the backside of the glorious Golden Mosque in that Baoli Bagh.
This was the unknown and unrevealed Baoli Bagh. The northern side of this bagh adjoins the Dabbi Bazaar; the southern side of the bagh is adjacent to Kasera bazaar. This bagh which is now just a barren ground was once a splendid place which took its name from the Baoli existing there. Baolis were the stepped wells constructed as water reservoirs for all living beings. Sometimes these wells had structures consisting of various stories and levels.
After some research on the subject, which I could not find anywhere on the internet, and thanks to a tourism information office at Delhi Gate, a tourist guide Mudasir told me that the Baoli was constructed during Jahangir’s reign by the fifth Sikh; Guru Arjan Singh in AD 1599. Kanhaiyalal mentions a pretty interesting story behind its construction. The place where the Baoli exists now was sold to a woman by a Sikh. She dug up the ground to build her house there and found some items buried underneath. She tried to give them to the previous owner but he refused to accept them. In the end the matter was taken to a Qazi and was later presented in the Emperor’s court. The Emperor, being pleased at the honesty of both parties, sent the items to Guru Arjan Singh and asked to use the amount of it for public welfare. It was decided to build a Baoli or stepped well from the proceeds. Upon hearing this, the lady presented her house for the purpose. Thus, a Baoli with several levels was built there which stayed during Jahangir’s period and was used by Sikhs and even by Guru Arjan Singh himself. Later, during Shah Jahan’s reign, the successor of Guru Arjan Singh, Guru Hargobind Singh, had some clashes with both the Qazi and Emperor due to which he left Lahore. The Baoli was over-built with Kansi Mosque by Qazi. The restoration of Baoli was not completed until the later Sikh period when Maharaja Ranjit Singh fell ill. One of the Sikh followers came and told the Maharaja about a dream he had with Guru Arjun Singh in it. He claimed that according to the Guru’s wish, the Maharaja would gain his health if he took a bath with Baoli’s water after destroying the mosque and restoring the Baoli. Maharaja eventually did so and regained his health. At that time a great building was erected there for Sikh followers, replacing the mosque. The building served as a gathering point for religious activities. After the death of Ranjit Singh and to the current period there are no traces in history of what happened to the Baoli and how it reached this condition of a barren garden having no Baoli.
According to another historic account narrated by the Sikhs it is said that a Pathan from Bukhara was leaving on an expedition and in haste he entrusted a purse containing 142 gold coins to the charge of Chajju Bhagat. Chajju took the purse and placed it in the safe and forgot all about it. The Pathan returned after many months and demanded his money back. Chajju denied since there was no entry of this transaction in his account books. The case went to the court of the governor of Lahore and the Pathan lost the case. It so happened that after a few days Chajju found the purse while he was cleaning his safe. He went to the Pathan with the purse and apologised to the Pathan for forgetting it and taking the case to court. The Pathan refused to accept the purse saying that he had lost his claim and had no right over it. The dispute came up before Arjan Dev when both of them refused to accept the money; he decided to build a Baoli in Dabbi Bazaar with the money. With the passage of time, in 1685, the Baoli was filled with earth. During the reign of Ranjit Singh the Baoli was restored, in 1891.
As most of the history is now distorted and there are always two versions of historic accounts it’s hard to endorse any one. Anyhow, to me, both the stories were fascinating.
Presently, the entrance of the Baoli Bagh is encroached upon by several shops and nobody could apprehend what happened to the huge structure which once existed there along with its arched entrance. When I took a closer look at the entrance, half of it was sealed with bricks, probably by the vendor who has encroached upon it leaving half of it for the entrance and motor bikes. I guess the government should take some steps in restoring this place or at least opening the main entrance to it. It would be a masterpiece if restored as inside the walled city such open places are hard to find and that too a green space. It can be converted into a tourist spot or at least some foundations can be revealed through excavating the garden.
