The screech of the large wooden door and the sprawling lawns it opens into take you back in time — at least a few centuries ago. The strong, 16-inch clay wall bordering about three kanals of land, the magnificent Chinars and an array of trees in the heart of old city in Srinagar hem in the heritage of Kashmir.
The Jalale House, a 250-year-old three-storey structure of clay bricks and conifer wood, located in the now-congested Zadibal area downtown of the city is an anachronism of kinds in Srinagar that has gone onto incongruous concrete. Known as Mahal Khana, it has been preserved even after three generations stopped living here — making it the only surviving example of traditional Kashmiri architecture.
And behind it all, the efforts of one man, Syed Iftikhar Hussain Jalale, heir to the house and one of the oldest families and a prominent social worker. Other houses of the era — under the Archaeological Survey of India — are either crumbling due to neglect or have been redone by the inmates in spite of being declared heritage sites. The ASI doesn’t even have an office in Srinagar.
Jalale House, on the other hand, is a contrast. While the lawns are decorated with earthen pots two or three feet high, soot-blackened candle stands hang on the branches of the umbrella tree; they are half-burnt, one might imagine the master of the house put them out before turning in for the night.
The latticed windows, especially around the two balconies on the third floor, are a great example of the Valley’s panjara kari (traditional wood carving). The pyramid roofs reflect the pagoda influence on the traditional architecture. The stone steps lead to the arched doorway inside the house which opens into a corridor leading to one of the three Dewan Khanas. Though the main flooring has been changed but the hand-woven silk carpets from Kashmir and Persia and hand-knotted rugs take you back to evenings when debates on politics, poetry and piety criss-crossed intellectuals, sitting cross-legged along the hall.
... contd.
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