September 22, 2019
This morning Shifa had a treat for us in the form of his nephew, Muhammad Nawaz. He is the head of the technology section for the Aga Khan Cultural Services as well as Procurement, which means he is currently in charge of the renovations of the Lehore Fort and procuring the necessary equipment to make the renovations successful and expedient. The major donors he currently works with include the Embassies of Norway and Germany, and the government of Punjab. The AK Development Network is worth $800 million, so he is well fixed to continue the restoration of the fort.
We start our tour with Nawaz walking through the Old Walled city of Lehore. The town dates back to 1000 BC, but the oldest existing buildings go back to 1555-6. Then the British came and rebuilt the city in 1856. Soon after passing under the entrance gate, we arrive at the Shahi Hammam, which dates back to 1635. At that time it had 21 baths. It is believed that the baths fell into disuse during the decline of the Mughal empire in the 18th century. The building was used for many unrelated purposes for many years. Eventually conservation efforts took place. In 1991, the beautiful wall paintings were rediscovered under layers of paint.
In 2013-15 the Aga Kahn Cultural Services, with the help of others, including Nawaz, the secrets of the Hammam were revealed including the original system for heating the building and the water for bathing. With much advanced technology, the manner in which water was circulated in the building was also made clear. The art and architecture were Persian, but the technology was Roman. There were cold and hot baths as well as steam rooms. Today we can get an understanding of the workings of the baths, both above ground where customers enjoyed the benefits, as well as below ground level where the water was heated and directed throughout the system.
Continuing our walk through the old city, we passed through the narrowest streets and neighborhoods and learned 25 residences have been restored by the Aga Kahn Cultural Service teams. I am beginning to think Aga Kahn is everywhere.
I saw a family poking their heads out of an upstairs window and asked if I could come up. Surprisingly, they said yes, so I went up a very narrow set of stairs to their one room space and encountered six people including a very old lady who did not get off her bed, two adult sisters and three children. In the corner was a gas burner heating a pressure cooker with some kind of stew in it. We tried unsuccessfully to communicate, but smiled a lot. I took several photos, said good bye and left.
In just a few steps, we were through the narrow streets and into an open market and courtyard, which contained the Wazir Khan Mosque, dating from 1634. The mosque was finished in 1641 by the same man who built the Hammam. The art work in both places is exquisite.
After visiting Old Town, the Hammam and the mosque, we stopped at an upscale restaurant and had a very nice lunch of dishes selected by Shifa and Nawaz.
Next up was the Lehore Fort. We soon experienced Nawaz’s clout, when our car moved through barriers as if they did not exist. He gives a nod or a smile and every gate opens for us until we are well inside the fort and have a great parking place. Nawaz lead us up a hill to the top of a building where no tourists are allowed so we could see the results of the work his team of skilled craftsmen are doing and what is yet to be done. There is a total of 200K square meters of inside exterior fort walls. The outside exterior walls were built by Sikhs in 1566-80 and the total area of the fort is 49.5 acres. Shah Jahan, who also built the Taj Mahal, built 80% of the buildings in the fort.
Nawaz pointed out the finished section of the “picture wall” of the fort. 350 feet has been restored of the 1600 feet long picture wall. We see the section being worked on currently and the long section yet to be done. He has equipment that takes exact measurements and drawings of the pieces of art that remains on the walls and reconstructs what was there when the wall was new. If the art cannot be correctly identified, they leave it blank rather than guess as this is meant to be a restoration, not a recreation. He showed us examples of frescos as well as mosaic art.
After viewing the painted walls, we walked around the inside of the fort along with all the many other Pakistani tourists. We visited the Badshahi Mosque built by Mohguls in 1673-74 and the House of Mirrors built by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal in the Hazuri Gardens of the fort. We had fun with the mirrors and enjoyed the detailed marble friezes.
Finally, we leave the fort and had an hour break at the hotel from 5:30 to 6:30. We managed a short dip in the pool for the first time since we left home. Then Shifa and Nawaz took us shopping for Pakistani outfits for me. We visited three different shops and purchased three different outfits. Prices were most reasonable. It was a bit weird having three men tag along on a shopping spree, but they were helpful and seemed to get into the process. In the end I could have skipped the last outfit, but the boys seemed so certain I should buy it that I did. No photos on this adventure. At 9pm, we quit and went to a buffet restaurant so we could eat quickly. We are finding that Pakistanis like buffet meals in general. They are similar to our buffet places at home.
Adventures with Julia 