Nagar Mahal stands strong after 90 years

A majestic pre-partition building in Bahawalnagar, called Nagar Mahal has been attracting attention due to its rich history and impressive architecture.

The 90-year-old building is in Minchinabad town, 35 kilometres from Bahawalnagar, and was built by two wealthy brothers of the Agarwal clan, Sheikh Nagar Mal and Bhajan Lal, who had a business empire in two different countries.

The mansion was constructed in the 1930s and was intended to showcase the wealth and connoisseurship of the Agarwal family.

Celebrated travel writer Salman Rashid visited the haveli and described it as an aesthetic masterpiece. He noted that behind the low outer wall and gateway, the house is hidden by a row of guest rooms. A high arched doorway leads into the first courtyard of the mansion, which sets the pace for the aesthetic high waiting to be experienced.

Around the courtyard, the rooms are arranged behind a veranda in a regular square. The arches of the openings to the veranda strictly follow the later Mughal design and are richly painted with floral and curvilinear designs.

The top of each arch carries a human likeness, perhaps of members of the Agarwal family. While the ground floor stringently follows the vernacular vocabulary, the upper floor is an Italian delight. The Agarwal brothers could only enjoy the mansion for just over a decade and a half, as they left in the great transmigration of 1947, abandoning Mahal Nagar Mal which later came to be occupied by the Sukhera family. The Sukheras have since lived in it and kept the lore of the mansion alive. The property was worth no less than Rs2.5 million in the 1930s, a royal sum indeed, according to a spokesperson for the Sukhera family. The family has preserved the historical building at their own expense.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2023.