ASI wakes up, repair work at Hisar’s Firoz Shah Palace begins

Deepender Deswal

After decades of neglect, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has woken up to the need to restore and conserve the ancient and historical structures of the Firoz Shah Palace and the Gujri Mahal in Hisar. Delhi Sultan Firoz Shah Tuglaq had constructed these structures in the 14th century when he also laid the foundation of the walled city of Hisar. The palace was completed in 1356. 

The ASI has allocated the work of beautification of the palace premises by random rubble masonry with RR stone filling, earth-filling, removal of wild grown grass and cleanliness to a private contractor. While the repair and beautification of the Gujri Mahal will be done at a cost of Rs 35 lakh, the work in the Firoz Shah Palace and the ‘tehkhana’ will cost around Rs 30 lakh. The Firoz Shah Palace is located in front of the bus stand while the Gujri Mahal is located around 100 metres across the road. 

The twin structures are a testimony to the love affair between the Delhi Sultan and a local Gujjar girl. The ASI has also displayed a board depicting the love story at the entrance of the Gujri Mahal. Both buildings were interconnected with underground channels that do not exist now.

ASI Assistant Patron Rajender Singh says that the contractor has been given three months and he has started the work. “I hope that the work will be completed ahead of the deadline. We have asked the contractor to deploy more masons and labourers so that the work is completed early. The structures will be beautified so that the footfall of visitors increases,” he adds. 

Rajinder Singh says that in the second phase, they are planning to install lights in the ‘tehkhana’, which was not accessible to the visitors for most of the time during the year due to lack of visibility. 

Contractor KK Sharma says that they have been engaged for the restoration and beautification of both structures simultaneously. “It requires a special technique to repair ASI-protected structures, as the construction material is used according to the ASI norms to maintain their traditional touch. It requires mostly earth filling and stone filling on the premises of the buildings. RR stones are fixed on the floor with mixture grounded gravel, lime, ‘surkhi’, ‘gur’ etc. We don’t use cement in the mixture. After six months, the construction work will settle and will have longer life and strength,” he adds. 

A college student, Sunil Kumar, who has keen interest in the ancient buildings, says that the twin structures required repair and restoration for a long time. “I have visited the sites many times which arouse curiosity. However, the dilapidated and damaged structures and the wild growth on their premises disappoint visitors,” he adds.