Pakistan
Fort and Shalamar Gardens
The Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore are masterpieces from the time of the Mughal civilization.
The 16th-century Lahore Fort is a large trapezoidal composition that holds 21 monumental sites, including the Sheesh Mahal (a white marble pavilion), Alamgiri Gate, Naulakha pavilion, and Moti Masjid (a small mosque made of white marble). The Shalamar Gardens are Persian-style gardens built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The Gardens have been laid out from south to north in three descending terraces and are irrigated by a canal.
Community Perspective: this site hasn’t been visited much yet, but Solivagant provides a comprehensive overview of its visiting conditions in 2013 and the site’s conservation history. Els gave an update on the situation at both inscribed components 10 years later.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore (ID: 171)
- Country
- Pakistan
- Status
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Inscribed 1981
Site history
History of Fort and Shalamar Gardens
- 1981: Inscribed
- Inscribed
- 2000: In Danger
- Major operations are necessary to protect
- 2012: Removed from Danger list
- "Many of the site's monuments have ... been restored. Better drainage and planning have also improved the preservation of the site's external walls and solved problems of dampness."
- WHS Type
- Cultural
- Criteria
- i
- ii
- iii
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- tdcp.gop.pk — Pakistan Tourism
News Article
- April 7, 2016 nation.com.pk — Plight of Shalimar Garden’s historic hydraulic tank system
- Nov. 16, 2015 en.dailypakistan.com.pk — Unesco seeks details of Orange Line train project in Lahore
- June 21, 2015 tribune.com.pk — Preserving heritage: A more tourist-friendly Lahore Fort
- Nov. 18, 2014 thenews.com.pk — Lahore Fort becomes inaccessible to public due to closed link road
- Aug. 22, 2009 dawn.com — The news of the completion of some conservation work by Unesco at the historical Shalamar Gardens, Lahore, is nothing short of exhilarating
- Jan. 28, 2008 thenews.com.pk — The historic Shalimar Gardens are losing height to construction work, which continued for decades, and lack of interest shown by the authorities who should be preserving the monument.
- Nov. 28, 2007 dailytimes.com.pk — The northeastern turret of Jahangir's Quadrangle at the Lahore Fort collapsed on September 24 because of rain.
Community Information
- Community Category
- Secular structure: Military and Fortifications
- Secular structure: Park or garden
Travel Information
One million visitors or more
Recent Connections
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Perfect Inscriptions
1981 -
Indus Basin
“Lahore is situated in the upper Indus … -
William Moorcroft
The gardens contain a building where Mo…
Connections of Fort and Shalamar Gardens
- Individual People
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William Moorcroft
The gardens contain a building where Moorcroft stayed in May 1820 whilst visiting Maharaja Ranjit Singh and now named after him as the "Moorcroft Pavilion". Moorcroft had gone to Lahore to obtain permission for his expedition to cross the Punjab. Moorcroft had a veterinary qualification from the university of Lyon before any such course existed in England. He first went to India to look after the EIC stud in Calcutta. Ranjit Singh made use of Moorcroft's medical knowledge by having a medical examination by him which is described in the book "Beyond Bukhara - The life of William Moorcroft" (page 237) -
Shah Jahan
Lahore Fort: builds Shish Mahal (Mirror Palace), Khawabgah (a dream place or sleeping area), Hamam (bath ), Khilwat Khana (retiring room), and Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) and Diwan-e-Khas (Hall of Special Audience) (wiki) -
Marianne North
See www.kew.org
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- Geography
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Indus Basin
“Lahore is situated in the upper Indus plain on the Ravi River, which is a significant tributary of the Indus River. The Ravi River flows along the northern and western outskirts of Lahore and contributes to the recharge of the city's groundwater.”
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- Trivia
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One million visitors or more
Our interventions in the World Heritage Site of Lahore Fort since 2016 have been instrumental in increasing visitor numbers from 1.6 million in 2016 to about five million in 2019. (Aga Khan dev fund) / "The number of tourists increased from 1.554 million visitors in 2016 to 2.64 million in 2017." (Mission Report 2018) -
Built elsewhere as a full size replica
Pakistan Pavilion - Expo 2010See en.wikipedia.org
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On Banknotes
Shalimar Garden, 10 Rupee issued 1972-1975 & 50 Rupees 1976 -
Google Doodles
August 14, 2015, Pakistan Independence Day 2015See www.google.com
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- History
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Mughal Empire
"a unique and exceptional testimony to the Mughal civilisation at the height of its artistic and aesthetic accomplishments" (crit iii) -
Located in a Former Capital
Lahore, capital of Mughal Empire (1584-1598)
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- Architecture
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Mosaic art
FortSee www.pbase.com
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Chahar Bagh Gardens
"Shalimar Gardens constructed by his great grandson, the aristocratic Shah Jahan, is the epitome of Mughal garden design, incorporating the paradisical chahar bagh, nahr (water channels), waterfalls and tanks, along with terracing and beautiful pavilions, creating a world of its own within its lofty enclosing walls."See en.wikipedia.org
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Indo-Islamic architecture
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- Damaged
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'Threatened' by bridges
Shalimar Gardens: ICOMOS concerned about visual impact, noise, vibration etc of overground metro viaductSee www.youtube.com
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- World Heritage Process
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Perfect Inscriptions
1981 -
Former In Danger List sites
2000-2012
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- Religion and Belief
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Sikhism
Captured by Ranjit Singh who turned Lahore into his capital with him as the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire (1799-1839). The main mosque of the fort was convertned into a Sikh Temple
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- Human Activity
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Irrigation and drainage
Shalamar Gardens -
Grand Cascade
"The Gardens have 5 water cascades including the great marble cascade and Sawan Bhadoon." (wiki)See en.wikipedia.org
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Man-made Terraces
Shalamar Gardens are terraced
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- Constructions
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Harem
"The Shish Mahal or Hall of Mirrors in the Lahore Fort. The walls are adorned with intricate tile work inlaid with mirrors. It is part of the Naulakha enclosure that served as a pivate quarter or Harem for women" -
Thrones
White Throne in the Shalimar Gardens -
Canals
Gardens: "The site was chosen for its stable water supply. Ali Mardan Khan was responsible for most of the construction, and had a 100-mile-long canal built to bring water from the foothills of Kashmir to the site" (wiki)See en.wikipedia.org
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Monumental Fountains
Shalimar Gardens
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- WHS on Other Lists
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U.S. Ambassadors Fund
Restoration of the Late 17th-Century Alamgiri Gate in Lahore Fort (2006), Walled City (2023)
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- Timeline
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Built in the 17th century
Fort (1542-1605), further embellished in the 17th century by Shah Jahan, Shalamar Gardens (1641)
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- 18
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Famous Love Stories
Lahore Fort for love of Prince Saleem and Anarkali
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News
- nation.com.pk 04/07/2016
- Plight of Shalimar Garden’s histor…
- en.dailypakistan.com.pk 11/16/2015
- Unesco seeks details of Orange Lin…
- tribune.com.pk 06/21/2015
- Preserving heritage: A more touris…
Recent Visitors
Visitors of Fort and Shalamar Gardens
- Adrian Turtschi
- Alexander Lehmann
- alicemears
- A. Mehmet Haksever
- Ammon Watkins
- Artur Anuszewski
- Atila Ege
- baiqitun
- Bill Maurmann
- BMuramatsu
- Bram de Bruin
- David Marton
- DouglasR
- Els Slots
- Erik Jelinek
- Eva Kisgyorgy
- Fan Yibo
- GerhardM
- Hanming
- Harry Mitsidis
- henryjiao18
- HE SHAOMIN
- Iain Jackson
- Janos
- Jon Opol
- KentishTownRocks
- Knut
- Kurt Lauer
- Lado Joel
- liu tuo
- Loic Pedras
- Luis Filipe Gaspar
- Maciej Gil
- Marcobrey
- Mariam
- MaxHeAnouBen
- Michael Novins
- Michal Kozok
- Mihai Dascalu
- MMM
- Niall Sclater
- Nihal Ege
- PeterA
- Philipp Leu
- Reza
- Rob Wilson
- Roger Ourset
- Roman Bruehwiler
- Rvieira
- Sascha Grabow
- SHIHE HUANG
- shoaibmnagi
- Shombob
- Solivagant
- Stanislaw Warwas
- Szucs Tamas
- Thomas Buechler
- Truls Brekke
- Vernon Prieto
- Zoë Sheng
Community Reviews
Show full reviews
Lahore undoubtedly is the most interesting city in Pakistan. It has the excellent Lahore museum, the Badshahi mosque, the narrow bustling streets of Old Lahore, and even two more Tentative Sites within its city borders. What has been inscribed though are the Mughal-era Fort and Shalamar Gardens.
The Fort and Gardens lie some 8 km apart and I visited them on two separate days in December 2023. Lahore Fort is situated within a large complex of monumental buildings. 'Hidden' behind an entrance gate and with a large parking lot are an important Sikh shrine (which I only saw from the outside, but it attracts many Indian Sikh pilgrims), the Badshahi Mosque and Lahore Fort.
The Badshahi Mosque wins the battle for where to look first: the enormous but perfectly symmetrical red sandstone building faces what was the main entrance to the fort, the Alamgiri Gate with its white, fluted towers. The fort entrance nowadays is via security gates around the corner, where you also have to pay the 500 rupees (1.50 EUR) fee. A short walk then leads to the gates to the inner structure with the recently restored Picture Wall, a stretch of wall fully covered with glazed tiles depicting scenes with elephants and such. This is the part of the entire fort that is in the best condition, though it is a bit hard to admire as you are separated from it by a wide moat.
The inner courtyard has an endless series of small …
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We arrived at Lahore Fort’s main Alamgiri gate to find it firmly closed for the next 3 days. The army had taken over, both to protect it from Taliban attacks (one was imminently expected by the government in retaliation for their “allowing”, as the Pakistani Taliban see it, US drone attacks such as the one which had recently killed their leader) and as a holding place for troops kept in reserve in case of sectarian riots in Lahore during the last 2 days of the Muharram festival. So what to do?
Well – we could still “claim” the WHS by visiting the nearby jointly inscribed Shalimar Gardens which, we understood, were still open, but it would be a shame to miss out on the Fort. Pleas to the guards on a side door we found open were to no avail – we persuaded them to phone their commander with our passport details but “no go”. Now, experience has taught me 2 things when faced with travel problems – don’t give up but wait around at least for a while, the situation might change and new opportunities might emerge. Also, be proactive in a friendly, helpful manner. Sure enough, a few jeeps and cars later a staff car drew up containing a senior officer. The situation was explained, together with our “sincere and significant desire” to see this example of Pakistani history (we might have even allowed an impression to gather which exaggerated a bit our importance as potential diplomats/VIPS …
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I visited the Shalimar Gardens with locals, so I didn't pay the foreigner's fee late November/2003 and they were worth the visit. The walls and floors were hand carved and made of marble and sandstone. There is no support for the ceiling, made of huge blocks of sandstone. The construction was well planned for acoustics. An artificial waterfall operates during the tourist season.. Nearby is a marble enclosure with a seat where Shah jahan sat.
The guide spoke only Urdu so the locals translated for me. He charged too much for his fee and the locals told me I should not have paid him less the the Rs. 200 he demanded. I am 69 years of age and travelled there to visit some cricket friends and the old Indus Valley civilization sites.
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