Department of Architecture & Planning

Permanent URI for this collection

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

History of conservation of shish mahal in Lahore, Pakistan.
(International Journal of Research in Chemical, Metallurgical and Civil Engineering, 2016) Mohammad Kamran; Muhammad Yousuf Awan; Saima Gulzar
Lahore Fort is situated in north-west side of Lahore city. Lahore fort is an icon for national identity and symbol of both historical and legendry versions of the past. It preserves all styles of Mughal architecture. The fort has more than 20 large and small monuments, most of them are towards northern side. Shish Mahal is one of them and was built in 1631-1632 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Shish Mahal being most beautiful royal residence is also known as palace of mirrors. Shish Mahal has faced serious problems throughout the ages. Temperature changes, heavy rains, lightning and termite effect were the serious causes of decays for Shish Mahal. With the passage of time remedial works were proposed for Shish Mahal and were implemented accordingly. In 1991-92 serious cracks were observed in the ceiling. On the recommendations of experts the conservation of ceiling of Shish Mahal was carried out from 2003-2005. The paper will focus on history of conservation of Shish Mahal before partition and after independence. The paper will briefly discuss history of Shish Mahal, its architecture, conservation and detail of repair works. The paper draws conclusion for successful conservation to maintain the authenticity of historic monument as well as the failures in conservation works.