Chaman Lal Khosla Haveli

Chaman Lal Khosla di Haveli is an 18th-century heritage building in Rahon, one of the oldest historic towns in the Doaba region of Punjab. It belonged to the Khosla family, a prominent Khatri clan historically rooted in Rahon’s Mishra Mohalla and Moh Khosla. Family accounts say many Khosla families settled in Rahon from Talwan, near Jalandhar, in the first half of the 18th century, and lived in large brick havelis. The haveli is reportedly the 18th-century Rahon haveli on which the Museum of Rural Life of Punjab at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, was modelled. Dr M.S. Randhawa, PAU’s first Vice Chancellor, conceived the museum and visited old towns including Rahon with a team of architects, engineers and photographers before settling on the design. The museum, inaugurated in 1974, also incorporates a carved wooden door from a Rahon dharmshala. Rahon was once a thriving trade hub linking Punjab with Tibet and Central Asia. After the Battle of Rahon in 1710, much of its population moved to a new settlement that became Nawanshahr. The town is also known for Sardar Tara Singh Ghaiba and as the native place of Yash Chopra, B.R. Chopra, Khayyam and Raj Khosla. Like many of Rahon’s older havelis, this one has suffered from weathering and neglect.