Field guides / Punjab / Wazir Khan's Baradari
Field guide · Heritage
Wazir Khan's Baradari
Wazir Khans Baradari is a beautiful specimen of civic architecture belonging to the Mughal style of Shah Jahans days.
The Baradari has twelve arched openings, three on each side and adorned with four corner cupolas. The main chamber is surrounded by four Pesh-e-Dalans and was once crowned by a high dome (disappeared since long). The interior was decorated with fresco paneling dome in multi-colours, producing a pleasing effect in harmony with the picturesque surroundings of a spacious date garden called Nakhliya, which has disappeared.
Why go
- ✦Mughal civic architecture of Shah Jahan's day
- ✦Twelve arched openings, three to each side
- ✦Four corner cupolas, and four pesh-dalans around the main chamber
- ✦The high dome and the date garden around it are both long gone
History
The baradari stood at the centre of a spacious date garden called Nakhliya, and was once crowned by a high dome. Both the dome and the garden have gone. Its twelve arched openings, three to a side, give the building type its name: bara dari, twelve doors.
Historical Significance
One of three surviving Lahore buildings by Wazir Khan, and a rare example of Mughal secular pavilion architecture in the city.
Architecture
A fine specimen of Mughal civic architecture from the reign of Shah Jahan. A high dome once crowned it, and the interior was panelled in multi-coloured fresco, set in harmony with the spacious date garden called Nakhliya that surrounded it.
Why Visit
See it with the Wazir Khan Mosque and the Shahi Hammam — one patron, three buildings, one afternoon.
Interesting Facts
- Its patron was a physician from Chiniot who became Shah Jahan's chief doctor
- 'Baradari' means twelve doors, and this one has exactly twelve arched openings
- The date garden it was designed to sit in has completely disappeared
Planning tip
Best Time to Visit, October to March. Lahore's summer is fierce and the Walled City offers little shade; December and January can be heavily smog-bound.
Getting there, All within Lahore. The Walled City monuments — the gates, Mariam Zamani, Wazir Khan's Baradari and Hammam — sit close enough to walk between; Shahdara, Baghbanpura and Mughalpura are a short drive out.
Allow, Thirty minutes to an hour at each; a full day for the Walled City circuit.
What to Do
Make Wazir Khan's Baradari Part of a Trip
GreenPak resorts within reach, and the journeys that travel this region.
Nearby
Straight-line distance from Wazir Khan's Baradari, within 30 km.
