Reminiscence of Mughal era

Being an ancient city, Jalandhar has several footprints of the Mughal era. The most prominent of these is the Noormahal sarai, 25 km from here. The sarai has been named after Noor Jahan, wife of Emperor Jehangir, who is also learnt to have been brought up here. Even the town Noormahal got its name from the sarai.

The serai was constructed on the orders of Noor Jahan in 1618 AD under the supervision of Zakariya Khan, the then Governor of the Doab. Made in red sandstone, it has intricate carvings depicting birds, elephants, camels, fairies and humans. As a patron of arts and architecture, the Empress is credited with many artistic and architectural achievements. Several mosques, serais, tombs and gardens were built on her name, including this one.

The sarai was a resting place for travellers during the Mughal era on the Lahore-Agra route. The growing importance of trade and commerce during their rule led to the construction of a network of roads that connected some commercially important places. Along the sides of these roads, shady trees were planted, wells were dug up and sarais constructed.

Due to its prime location on an important trade route, the Noormahal sarai brought in a lot of tariff for Noor Jahan. For the same reason, the sarai was built on a site measuring 551 sq ft. It had over 100 rooms for travellers, of which just aroud 40 are still present.

The approach to the sarai now has shops on either side with narrow lanes, typical of any old town. It’s built like a fortress with walls and fortification on all sides. There are octagonal towers at each corner of the gateway.

While the double-storey main gate (also called the Lahori Gate or the Western Gateway) of the sarai still stands, the Delhi or the Eastern Gateway has partly crumbled. These are bounded by rooms on three sides. All rooms in the sarai have an arched porch and a verandah. However, all rooms and even the staircase leading to the top have been blocked now. There is also a deep well in the complex covered with an iron grill for safety reasons. The entire central area has lawns.

This relic of the past is now a protected monument and is being maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. 

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