Nurmahal

India / Punjab / Nurmahal / Dist. Jalandhar
 Upload a photo

Nurmahal is a peacefull town and is part of District Jalandhar.
Mughal Historical Hunting Lodge- Cum - Serai at Nurmahal-Big Game Hunting


Main Gate ; Front Side ( Facing Nakodar )

View of Main Gate From Inside of Serai

A Chhajja on side of Gate
Beautiful statues of elephants supporting the platform

Front Gate- Side Extension ( Security Observation Posts)

Front Gate side
Symmetrical stone carvings

Upper Part With V.I.P. Chhajja on Top Centre

Inscription in Persian Below The Chhajja

Big Game Hunting Scene Blocks ( Front Gate)

Hunters On Elephants

Front Gate- Message in Persian Script

Hunting Scenes ( Note How One Hunter Is On Ground In front of Elephant )



Long Passage Between Two Gate System ( On Sides Elephant Mounting Platforms )

In side Serai Compound --A Fountain ?

Barrack Rooms ? Back Side Of Main Gate

Arched Ceiling Front Gate Inner Structure

Three Gate Arches of Front Gate. The Outer Highly Decorative Side May Have Been a Later Addition

Inside Serai A V.I.P.Building

View Of Back Gate From Inside

V.I.P. Building Inside Serai Compound

Back Gate ( Phillaur Side ) View From Inside Serai





Arched Verandas On Insides Of Serai Walls

View of Main Gate ( Inside of Serai ) from Back Gate ( Phillaur Side )


Damaged Back Gate ( Facing Phillaur )



Annexe ? of V.I.P. Building

Magnificient V.I.P. Building ( With a Poool and Water Channels )

Well ( Khoo ) Inside Serai

Well ( Khoo ) For Water Supply



V.I.P. Building ( Side View )



View of Nurmahal Town From Front Gate Facing Nakodar

Sign Board

Front Gate



Front Gate Ceiling ( With Holed Slab Hinge For Holding Massive Gate Doors)

Visitors' Cars
These photos are part of Nurmahal_Sarai by Gopal Aggarwal


Caravanserai at the historical town of Nurmahal (20 kilometres from Jalandhar)provides an excellent insight into various aspects of Mughal life and culture , particularly architecture , wildlife found in the surrounding area and hunting techniques deployed by the Royalty.

Nurmahal (meaning Light of the Palace) is named after the famous Queen of Emperor Jehangir. Empress Nurmahal was later given the title of Nurjahan (Light of the
Universe), probably a palace promotion of sorts. Empress Nurmahal (or Nurjahan) was an accomplished horse-rider and a keen hunter of big game.

Town Nurmahal and its surrounding wild lands was one of her favorite resting place and hunting ground whenever the Mughal Emperor's Durbar moved from Delhi/Agra to Kashmir or vice-versa.

The entrance complex of the Serai has double gates. A front gate and a back gate, somewhat like we have in prisons for security reasons. At any given time, only one gate was open. In the space between the two gates, there are staircases on each side, for mounting the "Howdah" of the elephants.


Elephants, in fact are the dominant feature depicted at the gate, both in the sculpture and in the intricate inscriptions. This shows the central role elephants played in the daily lives of the Royalty of those days.



The inscriptions decorating the front gate give graphic details of the surrounding wildlife in those days (this wlldlife has sadly vanished over the last three to four hundred years).

A unique and rare inscription vividly depicts the elaborate technique employed in the hunting of the great India rhinoceros. This was a team effort- the first hunter would attack from the front on the top side of the rhino forcing the animal to lift its head. This would enable the second hunter to get down at the neck of the rhino to fatally wound the rhino at its vulnerable neck area (where the enormous armour of rhino is probably missing). Sadly, these days the great Indian rhino has been pushed to the confines of jungles of Kaziranga National Park, Assam and Chitvan Park, Nepal.

Nurmahal is a must for reliving those glorious Mughal times and the abundant wildlife and hunting which took place in this area some three to four hundred years back.

Nurmahal serai was equally popular with the traders who moved along this route between Delhi-Agra and North and North-Western parts of India (to Lahore, Sialkot, Peshawar and Kashmir). The current G.T. Road from Ludhiana (then known as Lodhi-ana) was realigned probably under the British times. This serai like most of the serais of those times is built like fortress with walls and fortification of all sides. The inside of the serai provides extensive remains if the activities that went on during those times. There are numerous rooms on all sides. Large well to provide fresh water and open space where animals, carts could be stationed. Some important buldings inside the compound stand out among the ordinary rooms.






----------------

automagento.com
sumbooks.com
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   31°5'32"N   75°35'46"E

Comments

  • Hi this is sonia chopra from Nurmahal. Rajan u no me? Nurmahal is the best place in the world because.... there are no words in the dictionary to describe it!!!
  • Hi everyone. I'm desperate to obtain a map of Nurmahal. Can anyone Help?
  • Did you check at http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/punjab/districts/jalandhar.htm
  • Thanks Rajan for the prompt reply. I've been on that website you mentioned but it only shows Nurmahal on Jalandhar district map. I'm trying to get some sort of map of Nurmahal itself. I know Nurmahal is small, but surely there's something out there? I've even tried zooming in on google earth but again no luck. Can you point me in the right direction?
  • Sorry mate no such place where you can find all such info... there is only one official link at the moment http://jalandhar.nic.in/html/cities_towns_nurmahal.htm
  • sanghe khalsa ( nurmahal) is very nice i miss my area .sharanpunjabi@hotmail.com 647 208 7852 Toronto canada
  • @Rakesh, Say hi to Nindi Bhaji from my side :)
  • See, if we will use tool from google to find distance from nurmahal to Jalandhar it would come up as 24Kms cool heh ?
  • Hi, My beloved paramjit live in Nurmahal. Its gr8
  • hi candy
  • NURMAHAL IS MY HEART I LOVE
  • Nurmahal best city for living in Punjab
  • I was born in Nurmahal and i really miss it.I wants to talk to anyone from nurmahal.
  • I miss you and hope to see you in the future!!
  • CAN WE NOT GET A CLEAR PIC OF NURMAHAL ON HERE!!!! I WANT TO SEE MY DADS KOTHI
  • I WISH TO THE CITY ON LIVE.BECAUSE IT SUCH A GEAT CITY IN INDIA. HAVING GREAT MEMORY OF HISTORY
  • nurmahal is heaven on earth
  • Best city on the earth. I miss it all the time.
  • i am from nurmahal beautiful city
  • MAIN NURMAHAL DA REHAN WALA HA MAINU DO SAAL HO GAYE NU MERA BAHUT DIL KARDA PATA NAHIN KADO A KE NURMAHAL DEKHA GA I MISS YOU I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH
  • I was born in Nurmahal. 40 years on I still remember the place. Miss it a lot but doesn't look like I will go to live there in this lifetime. all the people I know have either left of passed away. I am sure if I go there, I will find the community but ... I don't know. Educated at Doaba Arya and brought up on Rakhe Di Kulphi, rale de Chhole, Pale de Gol Gappe and Chhajju de Bhalle te Pakorhe. Nothing has managed to match these tastes anywhere and I do mean anywhere. Would love to go ther one day. In the meantime, would appreciate any stories picture or whatever. pravesh_p at hotmail dot com.
  • I love nurmahal this is my JAN AND PEHCHAN,i was born and brought up in nurmahal,this is little heaven on earth,this means to me a lot,although i live thusands mile away but my mind is always there,reminder of baba chhajju de pakkore and rale de chhole ,ohh KI KEHNE give me such a happiness cant explaine force me to write abot nurmahal,nurmahal da lamba bazar te bhat halwai,gandhravse da baag sadhu ram da mandir nurmahal da tllaa known as baba bhutt natth da mandir,gateway to nurmahal from this is jalandhri gate muhlla then lambba bazar starts from rame de hatti.nurmahal is best place to live you can get anything and everything.
  • This is my mother land
  • Satnam you live in mohalla sorana your father name if i am correct is shive lal son off jassi my name is kamal africa wal Satnam you used live in mohalla sorana your dad name shive lalson of Jassi my name is kamal Africa wala
  • nurmahal is the best place on the earth
  • saw this place ...its beautiful. so is the town. I had never expected it to be a large and self sustaining town. the market is so vibrant and has everything u would want. frankly, found the quality of clothes there much superior to that in Delhi. overall a very good experience
  • Show all comments
This article was last modified 10 years ago