In bygone times the Havelis were considered the status symbol in Punjab , Rajasthan and elsewhere in India. The havelis provided safety and privacy for the the owners. They were very cool inside in summers because of high ceiling. The architecture was beautiful with beautiful jhorakhs. The biggest attraction use to be the huge wooden darwaja at the entrance of it. Living in haveli was common thing in the the past but it is now a rare and unique thing to own a Haveli. The old havelis need lots of maintenance. The Sardars and Seth owned huge Havelis. Still there are so many existing havelis in Punjab.
The beautiful Bishanpura Haveli is located on the Doraha Payal Road , Built By Grewal Jat Jagirdars this haveli is owned by Sardar Inderjit Singh Grewal , Sardar Sherpratap Singh Grewal ,Sardar Pritpal Singh Grewal and Sardar Narotam Singh Grewal. It was built around 1910 by Sardar Dungul Singh Grewal of Bishanpura. Sardar Dungul Singh Grewal was a famous personality during Patiala State. Dungal Singh was the son of S. Mangal Singh Grewal (biggest land lord of kila Raipur). S. Dungul singh bhuaji’s were married to Maharaja of Dholpur and another to Maharaja Of Kalsia. He owned about 7 villages that included 40,000 bighas of land, including Devigarh, Patiala. The Haveli consists of ten bedrooms and two drawing rooms , four verandas and six washrooms in the Haveli. The first floor has three bedrooms and on the top floor is one bedroom.
When the people started shifting to cities so many sold their havelis as its maintenance was a headache for them. But the new owners did not value its importance as the the original owner. Few Sardars demolished their havelis which for which they feel bad now. But still some have retained their havelis. But now again people are turning to Haveli culture. Beautiful new havelis are being constructed on vintage pattern.
Written by :-
- Mrs. Opinder Kaur Sekhon