CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

The Sarai Kosikalan is a Mughal-period sarai or rest house located in the town of Kosikalan in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. It stands to the west of the old Grand Trunk Road, just south of the local police station. The sarai is likely the same place referred to as “Cotki-sera” by the French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier and was probably built between 1615 and 1666 CE. Constructed using lakhori bricks, red sandstone, and lime mortar, the sarai is square in plan with octagonal corner towers and gateways on the east, west, and south sides. The monument is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (Agra Circle), but over time it has been heavily altered. Modern buildings now surround the structure, and many of the original rooms have been changed or reused as shops, making it difficult to understand the sarai in its original form.

Sarai Nurdi is a small Mughal-period caravansarai (rest house) located in the centre of Nurdi village, south of the Chabal–Attari Road in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. According to historical accounts, the sarai was constructed between 1606 and 1608 CE by Amir al-Din, son of Nur al-Din Quli Isfahani, who served as kotwal of Lahore in the early seventeenth century. Built of lakhori bricks with glazed tiles and lime mortar, the sarai was modest in scale and architectural treatment, comprising a simple gateway, enclosure walls, and a mosque with an undecorated facade. The monument is unprotected and survives in a severely dilapidated condition, with only the eastern gateway, parts of the mosque, and fragments of the enclosure walls remaining.

Sarai Aajmabad is a Mughal-period caravansarai or rest house located to the east of the Grand Trunk Road in the northern part of Mathura town in Uttar Pradesh. Probably founded between the 1642-1645 CE by Azam Khan Mir Muhammad Bakir (also known as Iradat Khan), the sarai was constructed using lakhori bricks, red sandstone, and lime mortar. Now unprotected, the site survives only in fragments, including parts of the eastern wall, a semi-octagonal bastion, modified sarai cells, and a mosque within the enclosure, reflecting significant damage, alteration, and loss over time.

This is a sarai that is now converted to a residential society known as 'Kila Sikkhan' situated in Shahabad of District Ambala in Haryana along the National Highway 1/Grand Trunk Road. Both gateways of the sarai have been altered and modified in the past. The Dilli Darwaza is a large structure with an arched opening along a central passage. Two storeys of rooms are located on either side of the central gate with a small gurdwara on the first floor. The parapet is lined with crenellations and adds to its grandeur.

Sarai, located along the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road/NH 1)), forms a rectangular, fortified enclosure with a central open space in the middle, with octagonal bastions at all four corners. These bastions are double storied and covered with domical roofs. The access to the Sarai is from two double storied, gateways each located in the middle of east and west side of the enclosure. A row of 20 single storied, rectangular rooms flanked by verandas are present on north and south side and 24 on the east and west side, both overlooking the central open space. Vernadas are marked by pointed arched openings leading into the rooms. Two circular bastions that are double storied high are located in the middle of each north and south walls. The structure is constructed of brick and left unplastered. Exterior of the Sarai is fairly simple and is devoid of any ornamentation. The parapet is lined with crenellations along the periphery of the facade making it appear like a fortification. A mosque is located in the middle of the Sarai’s rectangular enclosure, raised on a platform. Platform accommodates two barrels vaulted chambers with veranda in front and a staircase that leads to the mosque located above the platform. This main chamber of the mosque covered with a single dome rising on a circular drum. The mosque is also constructed of brick and devoid of any plaster.

Sarai Shambhu is a Mughal-period caravansarai or rest house located at Shambhu in Patiala district of Punjab, approximately 100 metres north of the old Grand Trunk Road. Although no inscription records its patronage, architectural evidence suggests that the sarai was constructed in the first quarter of the seventeenth century, likely during the reign of Jahangir. Built primarily of lakhori bricks set in lime mortar, the sarai is planned as a rectangular fortified enclosure with double-storied gateways on the east and west, octagonal corner bastions, and semi-circular bastions reinforcing the northern and southern walls. Rows of traveller cells line the interior, and a mosque raised on a platform occupies the central area of the enclosure. The monument is protected by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums, Punjab and survives in good condition, with minor surface deterioration and signs of vandalism visible in places.