Shambhu Sarai

On the Grand Trunk Road to Ambala and further to Delhi, thousands of cars pass by daily but few notice a fine example of medieval architecture. Beside the well-traveled road stands th\he Shambhu Sarai. The Mughals lined the Agra-Lahore highway with rest houses like this one, and few survive in such good condition. The brick enclosure is about 100 by 120 m, with a tower at each corner and a tall gateway in the east and west walls. The gateways have rooms on two floors, probably for the caretakers. Inside, rows of small domed rooms line all four sides of the courtyard. Larger rooms in the middle and the corners were probably kept for travellers of rank. A small mosque with a single dome stands on a raised platform, so that Muslim travellers could pray without leaving. No inscription says who built it. The historian Subhash Parihar dates it to the early 17th century, in the reign of Jahangir, because its gateways closely resemble those of Sarai Nurmahal (1618-20). Many websites credit Sher Shah Suri instead. Parihar also thinks the 18th-century missionary Tieffenthaler recorded the sarai under the name “Nilkanth”. That is a name of Shiva, as is Shambhu, so he suggests a Shiva temple once stood here and gave the place its name. In 1839 a British officer passing by described it as a picturesque ruin. It was in excellent condition when Parihar studied it in 1993. The Punjab government now protects it, and a village called Mughal Sarai has grown up around it. Sources: Subhash Parihar, “Mughal Sarai at Shambhu”