Mandir Shah Majeed

 

 

MANDAR SHAH MAJEED

Monument

MANDAR SHAH MAJEED

Location

OPPOSITE THE ENTRANCE OF PHOOL HATTAN MOSQUE At the meeting place of Bazaar Chauri Sarai and CHOWK BAZAR

Status

LISTED BY EVACUEE PROPERTY TRUST BOARD

Owner

Evacuee Property Trust Board, Govt. of Pakistan (EPTB) (Non-Muslim Auqaf)

Use

FORMER: TEMPLE
PRESENT: REDUNDANT

Period / Date

CIRCA 1850/ 1944 (Wasti, 176-77)

Historical Notes

Limited information tells us that some 200-250 years back at this place was a platform (thalla/tharra) under a huge Pepal tree where used to meditate a saint called Shah Majeed. Both Muslims and Hindus used to pay their respect to him. When he died, he was buried on the same platform. Veneration continued and with passage of time the place started to be called Chowk Majeed. It continued to be so called in the municipal record of the year 1864 and 1884. The license for Taazia Kamangaran used to be issued “via Shah Majeed”. Wasti, author of Aina -i-Multan (1985) quotes and asserts that for quite some time there was a lot of Muslim property around this platform but gradually Hindus purchased the entire property. They built four walls around this platform. During the Hindu-Muslim riots of 1884, Hindus, placed idols on this platform and gradually, the Muslims forgot that a Muslim saint is buried under this platform and Hindus were encouraged to build a temple over it in 1944 however the structure still continues to be called as Mandar Shah Majeed.

Description / Main Features

The temple is made of white plaster finely completed to a marble like finish. It has a petit balcony above its entrance behind which stands the mandappa (main spire) of the temple. Inscriptions in Hindi are rendered in stucco work and so are the decorative motifs.

Access / Environs

Access is through Chowk Bazaar. The temple is situated at the corner of Bazaar and a street. Unfortunately much of the temples elegance has been obscured by a web of electrical wires and a cluster of transformers.

Present Condition

The temple is in a complete state of neglect but has withstood the onslaught of time. Some of its features still retain elegance.

INTERVENTIONS

There is no evidence of any repair having been carried out in any part of it after 1947.

Proposal

Remove encroachments and wires and transformers.

References

Wasti, 176-177.

Plans

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Elevations

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Sections

Photograph

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Environmental Notes

• Mandar Shah Majeed

• Vehicular Access / Parking

  The mandar is accessible through the bazaar roads; no parking is available.
  

• Use of Space

  Use is commercial; the mandar has been occupied on all sides by shops and businesses.
  

• Visitor Facilities

  None; it is not possible to access the original temple spaces as the interior has been completely occupied and sub-divided into shop space.
  

• Electricity

  The shops have electricity; no meter found.
  

• Sewerage

  OpeSewage from the occupying shops runs into open drains crossing the street in front of the mandar’s former entrance, along Chowk Bazaar and Hussain Agahi Bazaar.
  

• Drainage

  Drainage enters the system of open drains.
  

• Solid Waste

  Waste from occupying shops is thrown in the street corners for later collection.
  

• Pavement and surfaces

  Adjacent road surfaces are blacktop.
  

• External threats

  Partitioning and gutting of the interior of the mandar by occupiers; vandalism.
  

• Condition

  Access to the monument was very limited; its lower portion is completely incorporated into encroaching shops.