Bhai Ram Singh of Lahore
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Lahore
Lahore:
May 20, 2007
AUTHORS: The creative duo
By Altaf Hussain Asad
If our fetish for erecting ugly structures is anything to go by, our colonial heritage is at a risk of being eroded once and for all. The situation is grim and warrants immediate action from those who value the esthetically pleasing buildings that our colonial masters erected through the length and breadth of the country.
Lahore too has its share of colonial architecture, which has given it a peculiar look that simply dazzles the art buffs. But sadly the city, like so many other cities of Pakistan, is under threat as edifices of historical significance are being razed to the ground at a horrendous rate. The genie of crass commercialisation is playing havoc with the city’s illustrious architecture. At this juncture we must not only try to save our heritage but also offer due homage to the unsung heroes who played a mammoth role in evolving indigenous architecture for Lahore.
Bhai Ram Singh was one such true son of the soil who went into oblivion. He should have been given due plaudits for his extraordinary work for Lahore. But that was not to be and his name today is alive only in the dust-laden archives. It goes to the credit of Prof Sajida Vandal and her husband Pervez Vandal for conducting an extensive research on his life. Their united efforts resulted in Lahore Raj and Bhai Ram Singh, which showers ample light on Bhai Ram Singh and his achievements.
At the very outset Pervez Vandal, a trained architect with vast teaching experience declares, “The purpose of writing this book is simple. We are teachers and architecture is our subject. What should be our architecture? This simple question perturbed us so we tried answering it through the book.” Elaborating his point of view further, he adds, “You know in Lahore one can see marks of Mughal, Sikh and British architecture. But the thing is we must only consider architecture that is relevant to our present times. But we are a product of our past so one cannot also fully ignore the past. Since the British period belongs to our immediate past, we must study it. So we studied British architecture and how it evolved over the years. It was here that we were introduced to Bhai Ram Singh.”
Prof Sajida Vandal, who recently retired as principal of the National College of Art (NCA), Lahore, is as passionate about their first book as her husband. “The book is not about Bhai Ram Singh alone. Its purpose is to illustrate the architecture of a period through the work of Bhai Ram Singh. The son of a mason from Amritsar, Bhai Ram Singh found his mentor in Lockwood Kipling, the first principal of the then Mayo School of Art [later renamed NCA]. Ram Singh was among his first batch of students. Later he rose to become the fourth principal of Mayo School of Art through sheer hard work and dedication. It was a pity that both Pakistan and India completely neglected Ram Singh as there was nothing written about him. So ours is a first attempt in the subcontinent as far as Ram Singh is concerned,” explains Prof Sajida Vandal.
Picking up the thread, Pervez Vandal states, “In the British era, there were two schools of thought vying with each other. The first group belonged to the Imperialists, who were of the view that the British must force their own architecture on the inhabitants. They did not want to trust the natives, for in their eyes the natives were simply uncivilised. The buildings constructed during this time are the Quaid-i-Azam Library, Administrative Staff College and a few others. While there was another group who could be called Revivalist, they wanted to incorporate the influences of the local ambience in their architecture too. The buildings which they erected include the GPO, Town Hall, High Court, etc. Though they did not take the native on board, they tried erecting buildings the natives could relate to.”
The first principal Lockwood Kipling turned out to be native-friendly. He trained his students to erect buildings as per the requirements of the subcontinent. Bhai Ram Singh was perhaps his most outstanding pupil who did wonders with his deft touch. It was the idea of Lockwood Kipling that the natives should be left to do their own thing as far as their architecture was concerned. The first building that they erected was the Mayo School of Art.
The amount of research that went into this book is quite obvious. “We began work on it in 2000 and it took us six years to complete the task. We travelled to Amritsar to meet Ram Singh’s family members who were a great help. We are happy to get good response from the readers. There is an offer from India to launch the book there also. Some people in Canada too wanted us to launch the book there,” Prof Sajida Vandal further adds. For Bhai Ram Singh, the building of the Mayo School of Art was just the start. He later honed his skills and erected many other buildings such as the Aitchison College, Lahore Museum, Punjab University Senate Hall, Govt College Quadrangle Hostel and even the Khalsa College, Amritsar.
When asked to comment on the present trends in architecture prevalent in Lahore, the couple seems alarmed. “The architect should design buildings for the people. They are the real judges. If the public can relate to your architecture, it is a good omen. We are suffering from an inferiority complex. Instead of taking into consideration our own ideas and traditions, we are introducing things like Spanish cottages or Swiss villas. It’s our distorted vision. In our country, we will have to build structures that cater to our needs. We have different climates as well as circumstances so we cannot blindly follow the western style of architecture,” the couple says fervidly.
As for their future writings, the creative couple have a plan. They now want to carry out research on post-colonial architecture. The task obviously is onerous but their first book testifies to the fact that they can do it too.
See also
Lahore: A-E Lahore: F-K Lahore: L-Q Lahore: R-Z Lahore: architectural treasures Lahore: Civic issues Lahore: History Lahore: Parsi cusine Lahore: Protected Monuments Bhai Ram Singh
