And dreams that don’t come true
Another interesting fact about Kashmiri Gate is that it is located on the highest point inside The Walled City. The city was constructed over a mound and archival pictures and paintings show the gate as the highest point of the city
Kashmiri Gate falls between the Sheranwala and Masti gates on the circular road and is adjacent to Delhi Gate. The Kashmiri Gate is named so because it faces the direction of Kashmir. During Mughal rule Kashmir had an immense importance and so did this gate. It is one of the gates which were reconstructed by the British in a much simpler form and has a similar architectural character as the Bhatti Gate. Like other gates, the interior of this gate has many shops which are mostly encroachments. This is one of the main issues of deterioration of monuments inside the Walled City. Most of the Gates and monuments are encroached upon by several encroachments. As we traverse through the gates of the Walled City we start noticing the temporary stalls and vendors occupying the place. In this gate as well, there are tea, lassi, fruit and juice stalls.
Another interesting fact about Kashmiri Gate is that it is located on the highest point inside The Walled City. The city was constructed over a mound and archival pictures and paintings show the gate as the highest point of the city. At the same point comes another marvel of the old times, near Kashmiri Ghatti, the Bungalow of Ayub Shah. It was built in the Sikh period in 1849, and was taken over by an Afghan chieftain Ayub Shah who came from Afghanistan. He rebuilt the building and later sold it to the Afghan Royal’s Chief Shazada Sultan. In 1960 the family sold most part of the property and only one third of this famous Bungalow is left now. Bungalow of Ayub Shah was important as the “secret escape tunnels” emerged from there and headed towards River Ravi and Delhi Darwaza.
Bungalow of Ayub Shah is not much popular among the masses and neither is it a tourist spot. Still if I post something about it on social media many questions arise about its location and history. Neither is there much information related to it on the internet. If you visit this place the only structure you would see is a roman style veranda on the front side, the rest of the building has collided with the passage of time. Originally the bungalow was a three storey building having two basements and a ground floor. As we see today, the major portion of the building has fallen apart. Its condition is as much due to negligence as aging. Originally the building was built with small sized bricks. The roofs were wooden composed of beam and batten system. The exterior and interior were finished with lime plaster as seen from the remains. The bungalow has almost collapsed and in the very near future there will be hardly any remains if it is not well kept or restored. All these features which I have mentioned are derived out of its existing parts; you will not find many details in books or internet. It must have been a magnificent building, rather a castle, but now it is in ruins. On both sides of the building one can see high rise plazas, which have now been constructed around it.
The possession of the bungalow is with the City District Government Lahore but there is no treatment of the building in terms of conservation or even restoration. The parking area of the bungalow is taken over by the plaza mafia, which has set up a resting cum sitting place there. You will not be allowed to photograph the place as the pressure of mafia is so influential.
The possession of the bungalow is with the City District Government Lahore but there is no treatment of the building in terms of conservation or even restoration. The parking area of the bungalow is taken over by the plaza mafia, which has set up a resting cum sitting place there
In my opinion, the bungalow if restored is a masterpiece of architecture. It can be put to many re-uses if desired by the concerned authorities. A small café cum museum can be established there. The place is nicely accessible by vehicles or can be turned pedestrian. If we take international examples, such places are converted into tourist spots. I wish we follow in those footsteps too. You can take a nice view of the city while sitting at that place. I wish I see arts students sitting and painting the sites there, street performers playing flute and violin, hustle and bustle of people in the café and children being fascinated by the museum. I wish these dreams come true one day.
