CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Sarai Doraha complex, Doraha (GT Road)

Sarai Doraha is a large 17th century caravan-sarai (rest-house) located to the south of the National Highway 1/Grand Trunk Road ((GT Road) at Doraha in Punjab. After the partition, some refugee families appropriated the sarai for their permanent residence. However, the State government got the sarai vacated in early 1970s and it was declared a protected monument.

Sarai Lashkar Khan, Kot Panaich, Punjab

Sarai Lashkar Khan is situated 12 km to the west of Khanna, on the National Highway 1/Grand Trunk Road in the district of Ludhiana. According to the inscription on its eastern gateway the sarai was erected by Lashkar Khan, a Mughal Military General, during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb, in 1669-70 AD. This sarai is also made of bricks. The sarai maintains an aesthetic restraint unlike the other ones in this route perhaps characteristic of the religious views of Aurangzeb. Another distinct feature of this sarai is the absence of bastions in the middle of the northern and the southern walls and the arrangement of rooms in the interior, corresponding to this portion. The central arched portal, which is of stone, is flanked by two storeys of triple openings. At the top of each gateway runs an inscription engraved on white marble slabs. The courtyard of the sarai has 30 rooms on each side i.e. 15 on either side of the gateways and an equal number on each side of the central higher compartments in the northern and the southern walls. The mosque is located in the southern part of the courtyard. Its domes are damaged. There are two wells in the sarai which is being used for irrigation of the entire land which has been converted as a farm for past many years. A kos minar is also located nearby. The sarai is currently in a dilapidated condition. The inner courtyard around which the rooms are located serve as farmland.

Sarai Nurmahal, Jalandhar, Punjab

Sarai Nur Mahal is situated in a small town Nur Mahal, located on the Lohian Khas-Nakodar -Ludhiana line, in Jalandhar district. During the Mughal period this route was part of an important highway leading from Agra to Lahore. The sarai was commissioned by Nur Jahan, the most famous and prominent wife of Mughal Emperor Jahangir. It is regarded as the most magnificent sarai built during Jahangir’s time. This sarai stands out for its unconventional depiction of prolific realistic figures which were usually avoided by the abstract tastes of Islam and in the use of Hindu motifs such as dueling elephants, pairs of peacocks, and three-dimensional lotus flowers. The eastern and western sides of the Sarai are facilitated with imposing portals on either side that bear most of the decoration carved in sandstone on the facade. The sarai is square in design and had rooms on all the four sides for travellers; The northern wall has greatly altered due to many shops and offices that occupy this space now. The gateways are multileveled and have many rooms which would have accommodated the staff. The mosque of the sarai is in the northeast quarter of the courtyard standing on an elevated platform. The public-bath (Hummam) which was also constructed for the travellers on the east side of the mosque, survives today. The bath-building was modified later to suit the needs of a 20th century rest - house which was run in this building until the sarai complex was taken into the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India. Almost half of the sarai had worn down due to natural and man made devastations before it was taken over by ASI and the monument was restored.