CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Sarai Raja Todar Mal at Rajpura is a Mughal-period caravansarai or rest house located in the centre of Rajpura town in Patiala district of Punjab. Although the monument bears no inscription, architectural features particularly the use of cusped arches in the gateways, corner bastions, and interior rooms suggest a date during the reign of Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) or slightly later, possibly associated with Raja Todar Mal, a Mughal official of the Sirhind region. Constructed of brick and lime mortar, the sarai is laid out as a fortified rectangular enclosure with octagonal corner bastions and two monumental gateways on the longer sides. The structure is unprotected and survives in fair condition, with substantial portions of the original fabric intact; it is presently adapted for use as the tehsil court and is locally known as the Kachehri.

Taraori is a small town situated north of Delhi, on the Grand Trunk Road, in Karnal district of Haryana. At present only the sarai and a masonry tank on the southern side of the sarai survive. The gateways of the sarai are placed in its northern and southern walls. The gateways were three storeyed structure. While the southern gateway is still in a better condition, upper storeys of the northern gateway has crumbled. There are painted decorations still seen on the soffit of the larger entrance arch of the southern gateway. The main motif is a flower plant in a pot. The mosque of the sarai is in the south-western side and now accommodates a Gurudwara. At present the sarai is heavily inhabited by the families who migrated to these parts during the partition of India in 1947. Many tanks were built along the Agra-Lahore highway; some survive at Sikandra, Faridabad, Taraori, Sarai Banjara, and Raja Tala etc. Traditionally construction of the tank along with the sarai Taraori is attributed to Aurangzeb. It is a tank of large compass, rectangular in shape, enclosed with brick wall. This tank was filled with rainwater or maybe some water channel from a nearby stream or river.

Sarasvati Temple, Ablur

Sari-Deul, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Sarja Madi, Thanjavur Maratha Museum, Thanjavur

Digitization of this collection has been possible with financial support from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.