RUINS FROM THE PAST: The Pre-Partition Havelis of Haryana

Ruins from the Past:

The Pre-Partition Havelis of Haryana

A call from a small town in Pakistan with a wish to identify an ancestral haveli in India led to a mix of emotions and nostalgia. On a curious inquest and a voluntary trip around the small village of Kahanur, travel enthusiast Rupali Rakheja, found the revelations of life amid ruins of bricks and souls.

The dome-shaped architecture

By Rupali Rakheja

HAVELIS OF HARYANA

Ceilings

By Rupali Rakheja

THE REVELATIONS OF LIFE AMID RUINS OF BRICKS AND SOULS.

Slightly surprised and cursing my ignorance, I was visiting a relative in a rural village of Haryana, Kahanur. The village of Kahanur is situated in the Rohtak District of Haryana. A handful population's residing in the village today had ancestors who migrated during the Partition in 1947 from Multan and Jhang. According to a local belief, the village was once famous for dacoits who took refuge in the village, probably during the Mughal period.

EMOTIONS AND NOSTALGIA

It was when a professor from a nearby town came over to Kahanur, speaking of a call he had received from someone in Jhang, Pakistan. The caller wanted to identify their ancestral haveli in Kahanur, with given information and directions, the professor was able to locate their haveli. In a dilapidated condition, lopsided roofs, the haveli looked like it hadn't been opened in years.( It happened to be the backyard of the place I was residing in, more like their attic.)

The professor made a video call in Pakistan, and the two worlds connected. With mixed forms of emotions, gasps and an older man reminiscing their childhood the call was abruptly disconnected because of limited internet connectivity.

A sudden realisation stuck in my head and I went on to take a tour of the village! To my surprise, I came across several Pre- Partition Havelis with influences of Medieval architectural elements. Their condition nonetheless feeble and worsening day by day. Some of them had fading ink inscribed in Urdu and Arabic. I am assuming the Arabic ones were Quranic Verses

In a dilapidated condition with lopsided roofs.

Image by Rupali Rakheja

Inscriptions in ink, probably Quranic verses

Image by Rupali Rakheja

A Haveli is a Farsi word which means a place for military encampment but in the Indian context, the word is used to refer to a mansion.

Getting a sense of the architecture, the Havelis, belonged to the 18th and 19th centuries. Inspired by the Mughal form of architecture. These Havelis provide an insightful glimpse of the rural life of India.

An example of Lahauri built

Image by Rupali Rakheja

OWNING A THOUGHT ABOUT RE- ADAPTING AND SUSTAINING THESE HAVELIS, HAVE OCCURRED IN MY HEAD BUT EVENTUAL THE LOCALS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF IT AND CONTINUE TO CALL IT "KHANDAR" WITH NO IDEA HOW TO REVAMP THESE STRUCTURES, THE LOCALS CONTINUE TO BREAK THESE LAKHOURI BUILT, LIME PLASTERED BUILDINGS WITH CEMENT AND BIGGER RECTANGULAR BRICKS.

An exposed Pillar of of a pre-partition Haveli

By Rupali Rakheja

On my interaction with the villagers, I inquired about any Muslim families living in the village. To get an idea about the mosques which have now been converted to Gurdwaras. A villager explained that there were a couple of Muslim families living in the outskirts of the village but it's been more than a decade that they moved out of the area.

Sadly, this has been the case of several villages in Haryana where several Mosques converted into Gurudwaras. Wondering if similarly Gurudwaras were/are being turned into mosques in Pakistan?

Has history always been about erasing other's to write one's own?

I am still going back to the call that was received from Jhang and wondering if everyone holds the same sentiment about their ancestral material memory! I would like to believe that we are all the same, only divided by borders. So close, yet so far!

By Rupali Rakheja