“Since its opening, the Hammam has been visited by thousands of local as well as international visitors and is increasingly becoming the centre piece of tourism in the Walled City.
The Hammam has now been established as a heritage museum-site that welcomes tourists and visitors from all over the world into the Walled City and is kept alive as a venue for talks, seminars and cultural and corporate events.”
– Kamran Lashari, Director General – Walled City of Lahore Authority
Shahi Hammam becomes a hub of foreign tourists
By Ali Raza for The News Posted November 24, 2016
LAHORE: The internationally recognised Mughal Era’s Turkish bath site Shahi Hammam has turned out to be the first priority of international visitors and tourists.
Statistics collected by The News revealed that since its inauguration in June 2016 as many as 5,000 international visitors and delegates had visited this site while over 50,000 local visitors including students, corporate entities and government functionaries had visited the site.
The monument had recently received Award of Merit in this year’s Unesco Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) in collaboration with Agha Khan Trust for Culture and with financial support of Norwegian government carried out the conservation of this Mughal-era public bathhouse over a two-year period.
The main reason why international tourists prefer visiting Shahi Hammam is presence of some other very important historical monuments nearby such as Delhi Gate, Masjid Wazir Khan, Well of Dina Nath and rehabilitated and restored Shahi Guzargah.
On Thursday (today), WCLA has planned a colorful ceremony to commemorate the Award of Merit during which a plaque will be unveiled by Counsellor Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE) Arne Haug and DG Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) Kamran Lashari, in the presence of CEO Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP) Salman Beg, as well as representatives of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) conservation team that worked on the project.
Tanya Qureshi, media manager of WCLA, said the Unesco Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation programme recognised the efforts of private individuals and organisations that have successfully restored and conserved structures and buildings of heritage value in the region.
A total of 13 winning projects from six countries – Australia, China, India, Iran, Japan and Pakistan – have been recognised in this year’s Heritage Awards, she said, adding a panel of international conservation experts met in Bangkok to review the 40 Heritage Awards entries.
Salman Beg, CEO Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP), said the project has been undertaken with a high degree of technical proficiency and the restoration of Shahi Hammam has safeguarded a unique example of the 17th-century Mughal public bathhouse monument.
Senior Architect, Rashid Makhdum, said Shahi Hammam was the first example of a monument conservation of its kind in Punjab and was the evidence of the success of the partnership between AKCSP and WCLA.
The project has also paved the way for similar monumental conservation in other parts of the Walled City, like the rehabilitation of the Chowk Wazir Khan and preparatory documentation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Lahore Fort as both these projects are being carried out with financial assistance from the US and Norwegian Embassies in Pakistan, he maintained.
“I am a seller of handmade mud toys and prior to the conservation and restoration of this area, I was living hand to mouth but now I am earning good as well as my children are also going to school.”
– Nisar Ahmed, a local shopkeeper
Discover, Explore and Learn more via:
- The News | Shahi Hammam becomes a hub of foreign tourists
- Facebook | Shahi Hammam
- Facebook | Walled City of Lahore Authority
Research, Insight & Perspective by A. Maherali
Earlier on Shahi Hammam
Restored by Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Shahi Hammam Lahore has become one of the most visited sites
Ismailimail 