Hiran Minar and Tank

I am an architect working in Lahore. I have been to the site numerous times and what seems to always amaze me is the forest present there (which is gradually decreasing). It contains wild keiker trees that are older than the monument. From within those trees the hiran minar looks like an priceless gem sitting in the centre, floating in an island of water surrounded by land. The ambiance is majestic and worth saving for future generations, simply because it will never be built again.....

On 4 Feb 2009 Pakistan awoke from several years of inactivity and submitted a nomination for the “Hiran Minar and Tank”. Unfortunately it was just 4 days late against the deadline for consideration at the 2010 WHC. Never mind – it would surely be ok for the 2011! Oh no, it wouldn’t! The 2010 WHC papers record that it was also to be excluded from consideration at the 2011 WHC for being “Incomplete”. And what of the 2011 WHC (for 2012) or thereafter? To date no further mention of the nomination has emerged.

We were determined to see the numerous sites around Lahore on Pakistan’s T List and presumed that this site would exhibit something “special” to justify being chosen for nomination even if the final bureaucracy had proven too great a hurdle.

The “Hiran Minar” is a tower (as in “Minaret”) standing next to a large rectangular man-made Tank ( = Reservoir/Lake). This tank has a small island in the middle reached by an arched bridge on which is situated a Pavilion. The whole ensemble constitutes a summer retreat built by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir – from whose tomb we had in fact just travelled the few kilometres outside the city to reach the Haran Minar at a place called “Sheikhupura”. On a stone at the base of the Pavilion the place is described more specifically as “The Hunting Lodge of Jahangir”. The tower is however also associated with a story about the great man. I quote …