Mausoleum of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
By Subhash Parihar

BEFORE the advent of the Muslims, India had no tradition of tomb-construction.One may point to Buddhist stupas. But strictly speaking, the stupa is a funeral mound and not a tomb. In fact, the ancient Indian philosophical concept of life, which regards body as an abode in which the being dwells temporarily, does not leave any scope for such a tradition.

Islam too, does not encourage the building of tombs or any other kind of monument over a grave. The Ahadis (traditions) strictly forbids the building of a tomb over a grave with stone, burnt brick or mortar or to write verses upon it. But notwithstanding the Ahadis, here, the strong desire to immortalise one’s name got the upper hand. And it is to the Muslims that the world owes one of the most splendid traditions of tomb-construction.

Under the influence of the Muslims, first the Rajput rulers and then the Sikh rulers also began to raise splendid memorials to their dead. Since the Sikhs had before them no model other than the Mughal tombs to design their sepulchres, they liberally borrowed from them.

Commenting upon the architecture of the Sikh period, Kamil Khan Mumtaz, the author of Architecture in Pakistan, writes: "Taken singly, almost every element of ... (the Sikh) buildings is derived from a Mughal precedent, yet seen as a whole, these buildings are an unmistakable expression of a radically different style".

The earliest Sikh tomb, undoubtedly, is the tomb of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who breathed his last on the eve of June 27, 1839. The memorial is situated quite close to the Gurdwara Dehra Sahib of Guru Arjan Dev, at Lahore.

The construction of the tomb was commenced by the emperor’s eldest son and descendant, Kharak Singh. But due to the untimely death of Kharak Singh and his son and successor Nau Nihal Singh, the tomb was completed in 1848, during the reign of the young Maharaja Duleep Singh.

The monument stands on a very high platform, access to which is provided by a staircase built in the platform wall. From outside, the building appears to be double-storeyed. However, it is actually a square single-storeyed structure. Each of its sides has an identical facade, pierced by three doorways. Above the doorways runs a line of bukharchas and archways. At parapet level, a square kiosk marks each corner of the building. A rectangular pavilion having a bangala roof, so reminiscent of the Mughal architecture of the period of Shah Jahan, sits at the middle of the parapet. The corner kiosks and middle pavilions are joined by smaller ornamental kiosks.

In the centre of the roof rises a small square chamber, developed by the Sikhs from the empty and unused space in between the two shells of the Mughal double domes. The chamber is surmounted by a bulbous fluted dome and surrounded by small ornamental kiosks. Solid guldastas are placed at each corner of the wavy curvilinear eaves at the base of the dome.

The ceiling of the inner square chamber is adorned with mirror-work. The walls of the interior bear frescoes depicting scenes from Hindu mythology. The historian Syed Muhammad Latif, the author of Lahore: Its History, Architectural Remains and Antiquities, mentions the carved red sandstone images of Ganesh,Devi and Brahma, at the front of the doorway.

In the centre of the interior is a platform, covered with a canopy, marking the cremation site of the Maharaja, his four wives and seven slave girls who burnt themselves on the funeral pyre of the Maharaja.

The rectangular structure near the tomb of the Maharaja, is the tomb of Kharak Singh, his son, and Nau Nihal Singh, his grandson. This building is covered with two domed chhatris.

At present, the exterior of both the tomb-buildings is covered with whitewash. But various architectural elements are defined with yellow ochre and Indian red colour.

Every year, on the occasion of the death anniversary of the Mahajara, a Sikh jatha visits Lahore to pay its respects at the tomb. This year the anniversary fell on June 28.

Beginning with this royal tomb, the Sikh tradition of raising memorials to their dead continued for about one century. Some significant examples are the tombs of the rulers of the Cis-Sutlej States of Punjab . But with the merging of these independent Sikh states after Independence, the tradition came to an end.