Farrukhnagar – Uncovering Our First Diamond in the Dust…

So, now that we had a location, we had to come up with some plans as to how we were going to go about raising awareness. For this, we had to go to Farrukhnagar ourselves.

Keeping in mind the unpredictable weather, we decided to go there on the 10^th of August, which, according to the MET, was to be a sunny day with 0% chance of precipitation. For once, they were absolutely right. In fact, the sun had become almost scorching by the time we left for Farrukhnagar at 9:30 that morning. On the way to Farrukhnagar, which was not very far from the city, we could see very country-like fields, which didn’t give even the slightest indication that they were barely 10 kilometers from a metro-city. 

After driving for approximately 30 minutes from Hero Honda Chowk towards Pataudi-Jhajjar Road we reached Farrukhnagar (one key landmark on the way is the famous Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary – so should you decide to visit Farrukhnagar, you can have the pleasure of natural and historical conservation at one place!)

After we had been welcomed to the State of Haryana by the navigation boards and our mobile networks alike, we noticed the contrast in the atmosphere. The road, which till there was quite good, became narrower and muddier as the density of cars and scooters increased. It was almost like a semi-modernized town. No one would have guessed that there were monuments that dated back to the Mughal era here.

We parked at a point beyond which the car wouldn’t have been able to get through and we started walking. On entering a small lane or a “galli”, I realized exactly how old-world this place was. Merchants sat at their shops the way we had imagined them to sit about 60 years ago and if it weren’t for the cars, I could well have been walking into an old movie!

Our first stop was the Sheesh Mahal. Farrukhsiyar, who was the great grandson of Aurangzeb, built the Sheesh Mahal in 1711. Initially, this whole palace was spread over 100 acres of land, but over the years, with development and urbanism, only two buildings are left of it. One is where the court or the “durbar” was held and the other, where one part of the living quarters used to be. The whole building used to be covered with mosaics of differently coloured pieces of glass, but again, with time, these too fell off.  

We reached a gate behind which an old wall stood. If I weren’t told, I wouldn’t have guessed it was the entrance to the Sheesh Mahal. Poorly handwritten in Hindi this was the only sign to direct a tourist to a monument that has withstood the sands of time for nearly 300 years!

We knocked and an old man stepped out. After checking our credentials and confirming that we weren’t locals, he let us through. This struck me as a little strange but when the man, who introduced himself as the Monument Attendant, explained the reason for his behavior, we were shocked. He told us that locals would come into the monument and vandalize it and this was why he had to be extremely cautious. 

It was nice to see someone who cared so much but the overall irony of it struck me the most. The locals, the very people who should be protecting monuments in their vicinity, were the main culprits of its current condition! This meant that before we could sensitize people in our school or our city, we had to sensitize the people here. This was slightly unanticipated but our hopes did not go down. 

We entered through the archway to a kind of lawn. Only, this lawn was very big and very overgrown. The Sheesh Mahal’s “durbar” side stood at a distance. Its walls were reddish maroon and an old fashioned fountain led to its entrance. But this fountain did not have any water. In fact, it was extremely dusty and dirty. Right next to us, stood the living accommodations for the then-residents of the Sheesh Mahal. It was a crumbling sort of building with a completely broken down and extremely dangerous staircase to get to the first floor.

Before moving towards the court building, we decided to explore the living quarters. We saw that the rooms were all littered in and there were names etc. scribbled on the walls. It was very disheartening to see.

We came back down and moved towards the court. We saw the jails where the prisoners were kept. We were told that those who committed serious offences were hung in quarters behind this building itself, though they have to shut these places down during the monsoon as there may be snakes etc. there during this time of the year.

We saw the “Deewaan-e-aam” and the “Deewan-e-khaas” as well. Those who are well versed with Mughal history will understand these terms, but for those who are not: the “Deewaan-e-aam” was the court where the King dealt with issues of the common people or with less confidential issues and the “Deewan-e-khaas” was the court where the King dealt with maters of high confidentiality or importance and this court only allowed a select group of nobles. These concepts were introduced by Akbar. The women of the palace were allowed to see the proceedings of the courts through a “jharokha”, which is the kind of architectural design of a wall, especially designed for women, through which they can see but cannot be seen.

Looking through the monument, I realized that   if people did start to come here, they would really see a lot of fascinating things. But before that, some major things had to be put right. For example, the grass was overgrown- a snake or any poisonous insect could be in there. Yet why wasn’t anyone cutting it? The Monument Attendant’s job was to keep the place safe from vandals and he tries his best, which more or less works out but he can’t cut the grass or do things like that. There should be some assistance for him. He also told us that one of the roofs was going to fall. Why wasn’t anyone sent to repair it? The simple answer- no one cares. And why? – No one knows.

Our next stop was Ghaus Ali Khan’s Baoli, commonly known just as the Baoli, which is basically a step well. This monument, being situated on the main road itself, had a much easier access as compared to the Mahal. We moved in through a gate, which read that this monument was under the protection of the ASI (The Archaeological Survey of India). Evidently, this monument was a lot better protected than the Sheesh Mahal, which wasn’t under ASI as yet.

On entering, we found that the Baoli was quite spic and span unlike most step wells in India. The Monument Attendant for here told us about the ASI maintaining the cleanliness of this monument. Apparently, they had initiated a vigorous cleaning procedure. He said that he had completely restricted the access of the locals to the monument and unlike Sheesh Mahal; there were no alternative routes into the monument.  He told us, however, about an underground tunnel existing from here directly to Sheesh Mahal. This tunnel was used by the Queen and her maids for entering the Baoli for their baths. It is said that this tunnel was closed down about a hundred years ago and not opened again due to the fear of the existence of any kind of harmful gas or insect.At the current time,  it seems to have become a store for unused bamboo sticks!

Our next stop was an unknown monument known as the “Sethani ki chhatri”, which was made by a merchant (merchants are called “seths”) for his wife (merchants’ wives are called “sethanis”). This monument did not have much historical relevance but we decided to see it anyway. It stood just opposite the Baoli in an extremely dilapidated condition; to the extent that we could not even locate a way to go in, that was easy to go through or which wasn’t surrounded by thorny bushes. There wasn’t a single person around it and a monument attendant seemed out of the question. We decided that we should leave this building to the professionals, as it was not something we could set right. We are planning to write a letter to the authorities about the Chhatri, as it did not look like we could do anything about this one without help.

The result of this visit was that we froze on our first Diamond in the Dust- Sheesh Mahal. The impact of urbanization was the most on this particular monument and looking at its vast history- it did not deserve the kind of neglect it was facing. The Baoli is already being protected and being kept quite clean by the ASI and therefore it does not need our help. The Chhatri, yes, does require help, but that kind of help had to be given by someone professional and we will get in touch with them. 

So, Sheesh Mahal- our first Diamond- here we come!