An ideal context to welcome visitors to the Walled City

WCLA held a media briefing to discuss conservation work on the Shahi Hammam

LAHORE:

The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) has completed conservation work at the historic Shahi Hammam in Dehli Gate and restored nearly 900 buildings and 157 shops along the Royal Trail, WCLA Marketing Director Asif Zaheer said at a media briefing organised by the WCLA’s media relations wing on Wednesday.

The WCLA has spent almost Rs520 million, funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and Aga Khan Cultural Services-Pakistan, on conservation and preservation work.

Zaheer said work on this had been carried out according to international standards, under the International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites (the Venice Charter 1964).

He said the authority had restored the 0.6 kilometre Royal Trail to its original condition and laid down electrical, water, sewer and gas pipes under the ground. This area has 57 streets and nearly 900 buildings. He said the WCLA had had to evacuate 138 year-old encroachments through a resettlement plan.

He said the authority had created community based organisations (CBOs) of locals. “Now the WCLA and residents of the area are safeguarding the historic asset together.”

Zaheer said the initial estimate of the project cost was Rs720 million but it was completed in three-fourths of that amount.

He said the excavated hypocaust system of the Hammam had been conserved for the public to understand the mechanism and techniques of the Hammam’s original heating system. The main entrance of the Hammam from the western side had been restored and centuries old frescoes inside the Hammam had also been cleaned with help from fresco conservation experts from Sri Lanka.

He said the conservation of the Shahi Hammam was a first-of-its-kind project in the Punjab. Initially, the function of the structure was examined by removing all modern elements that concealed the underlying historical features of the bathhouse. This process had revealed changes the building had been subjected to over time. Sub-soil investigations were also conducted to determine soil conditions and constructions. He said they had discovered several artefacts during the excavation. Conservation of the Hammam was completed in almost two years.

The WLCA’s media and marketing deputy director said the Shahi Hammam was built in 1634 in Delhi Gate along the path to Wazir Khan Mosque which was under construction at that time.

Today, the Shahi Hammam is the only monumental building in Pakistan that represents the Central Asian, Turkish and Irani traditions of public hot baths. It was built to service both travellers and residents of the Walled City.

Thus, she said, it provides an ideal context for welcoming visitors to the Walled City. In 2012, the WCLA started removing commercial encroachments around the building. With the help of a generous grant from the Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE), Aga Khan Cultural Service-Pakistan (AKCS-P), a country affiliate of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), the authority started conservation work on the Hammam and completed it in June this year. She said the Shahi Hammam was opened for public in June and around 1,400 visitors have visited it since. The visitors can engage a tourist guide in the Hammam and watch a documentary on the conservation and use of the Hammam, she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2015.