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BAGH-I-HAFIZ RAKHNA

BAGH-I-HAFIZ RAKHNA
Sirhind-Fategarh, Punjab, India
INFORMATION

Known today as Aam Khas Bagh, this unique Mughal garden complex was originally named for Hafiz Rakhna, the talented revenue collector of Sirhind. He laid out the garden in the sixteenth century, thereby introducing to India a formal garden tradition from Central Asia and Persia. After his death, Mughal emperors including Jahangir (r. 1605–27) and Shah Jahan (r. 1627–58) showed great interest in the garden and ordered new plantings and improvements. The garden, which complements an elegant palace, consists of three rectangular enclosures and includes domed bastions, an artificial lake, a long water channel punctuated with carved fountains, and a traditional bathhouse, known as a hammam.

The garden has been recognized by the state government of Punjab as a key monument along the historic Grand Trunk Road, which has been used to traverse the north of the Indian subcontinent for centuries. A popular destination for school groups, the garden needs improved interpretive materials to help visitors understand what they see and increase public awareness of its great significance. It is hoped that a conservation and interpretation project will reveal more about the history of the site, the first Mughal garden on the Indian subcontinent.

IN THE MEDIA

Download a 2012 Watch poster of this site (see download instructions).

BAGH-I-HAFIZ RAKHNA
Central water channel in the Bagh-i-Hafiz Rakhna, 2011
BAGH-I-HAFIZ RAKHNA
Bastion on the northeast corner of the garden, with gateway in the background, 2011
BAGH-I-HAFIZ RAKHNA
Ruins of the Daulat Khana-i-Khas, located outside the garden, 2011