Located
in the Yahiyaganj locality of Lucknow, the Nadan Mahal Maqbara is the oldest
monument of Lucknow, dating back to the Mughal era. But finding it can be a bit
of a challenge. When we told our auto-driver we wanted to go to there, he took
us to a private house on the Nadan Mahal Road which had a cement airplane on
top! If you don’t have Google maps when on tour (I didn’t), what you need to do
is to get to Nadan Mahal Road, find an octogenarian Muslim (easy to tell them
apart from the attire, fine flowing beards, and exquisite skull caps), and ask
for the “Chishti sahib ka dargah”.
 |
| Nadan Mahal (right) and the Solah Khamba (left) |
 |
| Mausoleum of Sheikh Ibrahim Chishti |
Currently
located within a well maintained park, there are four structures inside the
Nadan Mahal complex. The one immediately to left of the gate, to the East of
the complex, is the tomb of Sheikh Ibrahim Chishti, a Sufi saint of the Chishti
order. It is a domed structure, raised on a low plinth. The outer walls are
constructed of stone “kankar” blocks, which were originally covered with lime
plaster, which is now mostly gone. The arched entrances however, are built of
brick and lime plaster. Over the southern entrance is a green coloured tablet,
with a few couplets written in the Nastaʿlīq script. Roughly translated, the
tablet says the following – “Sheikh Ibrahim Chishti who was special and just
one of many in history. He went from this mortal world to the immortal world.
If someone asks about his death, tell him that he was the centre of his era”. The
tablet puts down the date of death as 961 Hijri which corresponds to 1553-54 in
the Gregorian calendar. The interior of the chamber is octagonal, with the tomb
of Sheikh Ibrahim Chishti in the centre. There are arched openings on all four
sides for purposes of ventilation, 3 of which are now closed. The exterior of
the dome has recently been repaired and whitewashed, although no attempt has
been made to re-plaster the walls. The original name of Nadan Mahal may have
been Nidan Mahal, since Sheikh Ibrahim Chishti’s followers prayed for “nidan”
or deliverance at his tomb. Sheikh Ibrahim Chishti’s tomb is still used for
worship, and shoes must be removed before approaching it.
 |
| The "Solah Khamba" |
There
are two other structures in the Nadan Mahal complex, which are located to the
South, and the one you approach first is called a “Solah Khamba”. The open
pavilion derives its name from the sixteen (solah) fluted pillars (khamba)
which hold up the roof. Brick and stone are used for construction, and the
pillars have exquisitely ornamented bases and brackets. Among the brackets,
there may be seen the form of an elephant’s head, or “gaja mukha”. While this
is not strictly in keeping with Islamic tradition of not depicting anything
living, this structure was probably built in the Mughal style which fused Hindu
and Islamic elements. On the raised platform of the “Solah Khamba” are five
graves, which are said to be of the descendants of Sheikh Abdur Rahim, the
first Governor of Lucknow during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
 |
| Nadan Mahal (far left) with the Solah Khamba in the foreground |
Immediately
West of the “Solah Khamba” is the Nadan Mahal tomb, from which the complex gets
its name. This is the tomb of Sheikh Abdur Rahim. According to Sheikh Mohammed
Azmat Ali Naami Kakorvi’s historical account in Muraqqa-e-Khusravi written in
1282 Hijri (1866), Akbar had been warned by his astrologers that two particular
days were inauspicious for him as emperor. To tide over the period of the
curse, Akbar nominated Sheikh Abdur Rahim to be emperor for two days. As the
period was about to end, the eunuch carrying the emperor’s clothes suddenly
dropped dead! There was a cobra inside the emperor’s clothes! The relieved
Akbar gave Sheikh Abdur Rahim the Lucknow “pargana” and some parts of Behraich
(North-East of Lucknow in the modern day state of Uttar Pradesh). It seems the
Sheikh had begun construction of the tomb during his lifetime. The tomb
consists of a domed chamber, surrounded on all sides by a veranda. The central
chamber of the Nadan Mahal, which contains the graves of Sheikh Abdur Rahim and
his wife, was originally constructed as an open chamber, and was later closed
with bricks. The exquisitely ornamented brackets which hold up the “chhajjas”
(overhanging eaves, an architectural feature commonly seen in North West India)
contain easily recognizable animal heads. The parapet was originally decorated
with blue and yellow tiles, but most of it is damaged beyond repair now. Behind the Nadan Mahal, to it's West, are a number of unmarked graves. There was a brick structure around these graves at one point, that has long since crumbled.
 |
| Unmarked graves in the complex |
Nadan
Mahal is not a ticketed monument, and is open to all. But awareness about it
seems to be fairly low. Since it is an active religious site, do be respectful,
remove shoes where signs say you must, and try not to smoke or eat inside.
- by Deepanjan Ghosh
- by Deepanjan Ghosh
MORE ON LUCKNOW
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to my friend, Devankan Chakraborty for
being my guide around Lucknow, to Kalpajeet Bhattacharya for his hospitality,
and to my father Debashish Ghosh, and sister Deepshikha Ghosh for accompanying
me, and providing valuable inputs while shooting the monuments. Check out myfather’s flickr page here.
I am grateful also to Iftekhar Ahsan and his friend
Samaneh Zand for their help with translating the writing on the tablet on the
tomb of Sheikh Ibrahim
Chishti. If you’re ever in Calcutta, consider taking a walk with Iftekhar’s Calcutta Walks.
SOURCES
Monuments of Lucknow – R.S. Fonia
http://lucknow.me/Nadan-Mahal-Tomb.html
No comments:
Post a Comment