THE SAD STORY OF
MUBARAK MANDI COMPLEX JAMMU............ COLOSSAL NEGLECT AND MISUSE OF A
HERITAGE .....
Raja Dhruv
Dev(1707-1733) of Jammu laid the foundation of present MUBARAK MANDI PALACES
COMPLEX. Pandit Ram Swroop (Royal Purohit / Astrologer) performed the
foundation ceremony. Subsequent rulers of Jammu and later Dogra rulers of
J&K state added more buildings and Palaces to this complex. Maharaja Gulab
Singh( 1792-1856) added three mansions on north eastern side of this complex .
Maharaja Ranbir Singh(1856-1885) built his own Palace and a Palace for his
Queens on north eastern side that had a panoramic view of Tawi river.He got
Gole Ghar completed apart from building Sheesh Mahal for his favourite Queen
Rani Bandrali..He also built three palaces for his three sons Partap Singh,
Amar Singh and Ram Singh. He constructed many official buildings with large
Halls and Galleries for administration and Public events.Thereafter Maharaja
Partap Singh's built a Palace for his queen Maharani Charaki on eastern side .
He also added some more buildings for administration . Maharaja Partap Singh
also ordered extensive renovations of Pink Hall, Green Hall and central
Pavilion during Raj Tilak ceremony of his nephew Maharaja Hari Singh .
Presently Crumbling
due to neglect and misuse, this Darbar complex is spread over 120 kanals of
land. It is a blend of Rajasthani, Mughal and Baroque(European) style of
Architecture.
Prior to
construction of MUBARAK MANDI PALACES COMPLEX, Rajas of Jammu resided in an old
Palace,which was located in Purani MANDI.Some remains of this palace still
exist .
Pawaden da Bazar(
now Jain Bazar) was established by bringing Jain Traders who dealt in Gold to
meet jewelery requirements of the ladies of Royality.They came during the rule
of Raja Ranjt Dev(1733-1781).
The Dev Dynasty ruled Jammu for about 984 years from 840 CE to 1816.
For construction of
various buildings of this complex , a mixture of Surkhi powder, lime , husk and
Mahaash Dal was used as cementing material.
After MUBARAK MANDI
PALACES COMPLEX was built, Muslim Artisans were brought and settled in Mohallas
like ustaad Mohalla, Pakki Dakki, Mastgarh ,Dalpatian, Talab Khati ka, and
other localities.They were mostly Blacksmiths, Weavers , Leather workers, Metal
workers and Masons.
Markets were established at Lakhdatta Bazar and Fattu chowgan.To meet requirements of Royal families and officials ,Mohallas were established near MUBARAK MANDI PALACES COMPLEX. Mention needs to be made of Jullaka mohalla( Artisans and Weavers), Kumaron ka Mohalla (Potters) , Nachne wali ka Mohalla( Present Rajinder Bazar had kothas of singing and dancing girls), Urdu Bazar ( nearby to present Rajinder Bazar had many gambling dens ) and Dounthali Bazar (Panjtirthi presently). As per book "song Sung True" a memoir by Malika Pukhraj published in Pakistan, singer Malika Pukhraj's father ran his gambling den in the then Urdu Bazaar of Jammu . Malika sang in Royal Darbar during Maharaja Hari Singh's rule and in 1947, she moved to Pakistan.
The complex could be
entered through three main gates known as DEORHIS ;one at Chowk Chabutra
,second at Panjtirthi and the third from Pakki dakki side.Residential
settlements were initially confined around these three DEORHIS. It was at the
Deohri of this complex , that in August ,1813 AD , Mian Mota ,the then prime
Minister of Jammu was murdered.
( The Deohri or Entrance from Panjtirthi )
Cow sheds, stables ,
Buggi khanas were also raised outside MUBARAK MANDI PALACES COMPLEX. Some
stables were raised at Simble, Bhadial, Mohin, Ahal, Jhang Maghial and Nagbani
far away from the Palace complex .Wazirs and Dewans also built their Havelis
outside MUBARAK MANDI PALACES COMPLEX.Haveli of Dewan Jwala shah presently
houses Dewan Badrinath school..Havelis of wazir Ganga Ram and wazir Beli Ram
were behind Gadhadhar Temple.Haveli of wazir Lakshman exists at Pakki Dakki.
The Taksal building presently houses Govt Girls Higher secondary school.The
Haveli of Wazir Amin chand houses JK Public School. Havelis of Raja Hukum Singh
Rao, Chaudhary Chatter Singh and Chaudhary Punjab Singh( Brothers of Maharani
Charaki) and Munshi Anant Ram kardar have been extensively repaired and altered
. The repair and alteration has been done in New construction material. Havelis
can also be seen in Julakka Mohalla, Purani Mandi, Mohalla Kali Janni,
Dounthali and Fattu Chogan.
Except Maharaja Hari
Singh, All Dogra rulers had their royal residences inside the MUBARAK MANDI
PALACES COMPLEX.Maharaja Hari Singh shifted his royal residence to newly
constructed Palace (Amar Mahal) near Scenic Manda Hill Jammu.
After 1947, MUBARAK
MANDI PALACES COMPLEX was used by state Government as State's civil
secretariat. So many Government offices functioned from this complex. The elegance
and the Architecture of the complex was thus destroyed by altering everything
by every department to house employees and files. Many walls of the Sheesh
Mahal built with decorated mirrors ,French prints and Italian marble cracked
and crumbled with neglect and misuse. Cement plastering, partitioning, white
washing, smoke, Fires, Earthquakes, Rain water and absolute insensitivity at
all levels destroyed the beautiful floral designs, skillfully carved ceilings
,Decorated railings, painted Pillars, decorated Arches, lotus flower style
Domes, Wall paintings and the Latticed Jharokhas of several prominent buildings
inside the complex.There are cracks and big holes in every structure. Profuse
Growth of plants and vegetation has also ruined these structures. Other
important structures like Gole Ghar, Rani Bhandrali Palace, Maharani Charaki
Palace,Darbar Hall, Hawa Mahal, Green Hall, Grey Hall, Raja Amar Singh Palace,
Gharvi khaana(Dawai khana) and Gulabi Dewan Khana have either crumbled or are
in pathetic state due to utter neglect.Royal Treasury Building is a heap of
debris, Maharaja Partap Singh's Palace has turned into ruins and some floors of
Gole Ghar have completely collapsed.
Till late, J&K
state High court and so many subordinate courts functioned from this complex.
For about 50 years,
state Government offices misused this heritage complex and finally in 1995,
Estates Department of J&K Government declared the Palace complex unsafe and
started shifting offices after putting all the Palace buildings to extensive
damage due to misuse . The last offices to vacate the complex in 2004 were
Public Service commission (Grey Hall Building) and Subordinate courts (Raja Ram
Singh''s Palace). The advocates also vacated their chambers that they had established
behind Gharvi Khana.Both the Buildings were converted to dilapidated and
crumbling structures due to neglect and misuse.
There was a
devastating fire inside MUBARAK MANDI COMPLEX in April1898..The fire destroyed
vital records and buildings known as Dewani daftar, Green darbar, Governor's
office and foreign office. Three persons headed by one Mohana had connived to
set MUBARAK MANDI COMPLEX on fire. Mohana was sentenced to one year's rigorous
imprisonment.
Due to untiring
efforts of some Jammu based writers, Dogra Sadar Sabha, a few Civil society
groups and Shri Jagmohan( Governor and later Minister for culture GOI)
restoration of the complex was agreed upon and started as late as 2005 .in
2003, the then Minister for Tourism and Culture ,Shri Jagmohan sanctioned an
Ad-hoc grant of 4.5 crore for much needed upkeep, restoration and some internal
works of of Dogra Art Museum and Repository Library .This set the restoration
process in motion.
Presently Mubarak
Mandi Heritage Society is monitoring this restoration work of the still erect
but dilapidated buildings and structures inside the complex.
Personally I believe
that there is colossal tardiness in this restoration and prevention of further
damage. Though so many structures have crumbled and can't be brought up by any
restoration yet the remaining dilapidated buildings need faster restoration.
There is an implied need to create public awareness about this Heritage that
would have been as magnificent as Aamer Palace complex or Mehrangarh complex of
Jaipur and Jodhpur respectively. May be some day some structure would be
restored partially to elegance and glory of its past and for that the pace of
restoration needs to be accelerated and appropriate fund allocation created by
Government.
A report published
in Daily Excelsior dated 4/11/2017 establishes apathy and extremely casual
approach of Authorities towards this restoration. I quote:
" The
restoration estimate of this Complex is about Rs 298.86 crore. During the past
nearly 10 years an amount of Rs 21.26 crore was released for the renovation
work under different heads. An amount of Rs 4.37 crore was released under
Tourist Destination Scheme, Rs 8.51 crore under 13th Finance Commission, Rs
3.38 crore under Mega Tourism Project and Rs 5 crore under Capex Budget as additionality. However, of Rs 21.26 crore only
an amount of Rs 13.51 crore was released to the project executing
agency-Archeological Survey of India and DDT (M&W) during the past 10
years"
I conclude this post with a couplet of progressive urdu Moin Ahsan Jazbi....
"Sarv o saman Bhi Mauj e naseem e Sehar Bhi Hai ,
Aey Gul Teray Chaman Mein Koyee chashme tar bhi hai...................... .."
( You have the Cypress and the Jasmine and the wafting morning Breeze as well,
O Flower ! Look around carefully , There sits a person with moist eyes in your garden .)
(Autar Mota)
PS
SOURCES FOR THE POST
(1) "Mubarak Mandi Inheritance Of An Ailing Heritage" by Poonam
Chaudhary and Jasbir Singh Katoch. Publisher... Saksham Books International, 62, Peer Mitha Bazar Jammu 180001..Email..sakshambooks@rediffmail.com..
(2) News paper Reports The Daily Excelsior and kashmir Times
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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