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Lahore's Old Tollinton Market

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Written by: Aleeza Rasool (http://www.youlinmagazine.com/writer/aleeza­rasool) |
Comments (http://www.youlinmagazine.com/blog/tollinton­market­
lahore/NTA=#comments) | 中国 (Chinese) (http://www.youlinmagazine.com/博客/拉合尔
的老托灵顿市场/NTA=)
Google Translation: ‫ُﺭﺩﻭ‬
‫ | ﺍ‬中文

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Tollinton Market, Lahore

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3/22/2016 Tollinton Market Lahore

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As one crosses the old Anarkali Bazaar to one’s right, out emerges the Lahore City
(http://www.youlinmagazine.com/lahore­events­reviews) Heritage Museum ­ a single
storied structure, reminiscent of Anglo­Indian architecture, which vividly breaks the
monotony of the large, red brick buildings located adjacent and opposite to it on Mall
Road. This building, now an annex of the Lahore Museum, was previously Lahore’s old
Tollinton Market.
I entered the building feeling quite skeptical about
the state that it might be in, considering what I
know of the lack of preservation of historical
monuments in Pakistan
(http://www.youlinmagazine.com/). But on
stepping inside, all preconceived notions were
brushed aside. A silver shield mounted on the wall
outside the main door stated that the building had
undergone reconstruction and maintenance
between the years 2004 and 2006. The Officer In­
Charge explained that within the process of reconstruction, the building’s original design
and features had been preserved and no changes had been made to it. It undoubtedly
looked flawless.
The façade of the building boosts an elaborate veranda on all sides supported on wooden
posts. The pitched roof has been finished in terracotta and is supported with two black
towers made from wrought iron and glass. The purpose of these towers is to provide the
main halls of the building with natural light. Inside, the wooden ceilings, a key feature of
the place captures one’s attention, an intricate web of wooden beams and shafts that
runs along the ceiling in all the halls. The main, square shaped hall, leads to two larger
rectangular halls on either side, which are lit by numerous small windows near the ceiling.
The blend of colours, owing to the red sandstone floor, the brown and mahogany ceilings
and the white and red brick walls, has a soothing effect on one’s senses.
Built in the year 1864 under the patronage of
Queen Victoria, the old Tollinton Market was
originally constructed for the purpose of holding
the internationally acclaimed Punjab Industrial
Exhibition. The success of the exhibition
encouraged the British government towards
making the market a permanent site for
exhibitions. However in the year 1894, the
collections displayed were shifted elsewhere and
the market was commercialized. Eventually over
the years it transformed into one of the busiest commercial centres located in old Lahore
where everything from food items to pets was sold. According to Dr Rafiq Ahmed, owner
of the Punjab Store which was once located within the old Tollinton market, this market
was considered the most central and ideal place to shop until the mid 1940s (Malik).
Douglass within her memoirs of Lahore refers to the variety of items available for sale within
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3/22/2016 Tollinton Market Lahore

the market, “The main gallery held a kiosk that displayed a variety of merchandise… Jim
led me out a side door to a yard where crates of live chicken were for sale… American
brand merchandise was displayed behind a dirty glass case. Soaps, hand lotion, canned
ham, Spam, Vienna sausages, cigarette lighters, candy and batteries were all offered for
sale,” (Douglass). However, overtime, the market fell prey to significant amounts of
deterioration owing to a lack of maintenance by the authorities and an absence of care
by the shopkeepers and vendors. During the 1950s, the roof of the market began to leak
and its walls started to crack (Malik). Its condition got worse due to the negligence of the
government and those operating the shops (Malik). Eventually the market was shifted to a
new location between Ferozpur Road and Jail Road and the old structure was assigned to
the Parks and Horticulture Authority for the purpose of renovation and preservation. Later,
a decision was reached to make the structure a part of the Lahore Museum, though at
that time it was unclear how the extra space would be utilized by the Museum. The
renovated building was inaugurated in January 2006 by the then Chief Minister of Punjab
Chaudhry Pervaiz Ilahi. Mr Muzammil Hussain, the Assistant Public Relations Officer at the
Lahore Museum stated that the Lahore Museum’s Authorities decided to use the newly
renovated building for displaying Lahore related artifacts­ hence the name ‘Lahore City
Heritage Museum’ was given to it. Currently this building: ‘The Lahore City Heritage
Museum’ or ‘The (old) Tollinton Market’ consists of three galleries namely: the Sultanate,
Mughal and Sikh/ British. Artifacts and paintings pertaining to these three major periods in
Lahore’s history have been displayed within each of these three galleries; though at the
time of my visit to the building these had been removed for the maintenance purposes. Mr
Hussain (APR Lahore Museum) informed me that the halls of the building are also used for
holding certain cultural events by the museum or its sister organizations such as the Fine
Arts Department of The University of Punjab.

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3/22/2016 Tollinton Market Lahore

In my view, Lahore’s old Tollinton Market is one of the finest examples of historical
conservation by the responsible authorities. The structure is modern yet classic. According
to Mr Hussain, the government is unable to give priority to the conservation and
preservation of historical buildings and artifacts as it is busy taking care of other pressing
issues. He said that like anything that we own, for example a car or a house, these cultural
and historical assets too need maintenance otherwise we run the risk of losing them.

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