Architecture, Monuments and Heritage of Haryana Notes

Haryana lies on the corridor between the Indus plains and the Ganga valley, and every power that used that corridor left buildings behind. The state's heritage therefore runs in a straight line from Harappan mounds through Mahabharata sites and Tughlaq towns to Mughal gardens and colonial-era palaces. HSSC, HPSC and Haryana CET papers ask this chapter as monument, town and district, with the builder where one is known, so those four should be learnt together.

The Harappan mounds

Rakhigarhi, in Hisar district, is the largest Harappan site in India and one of the largest of the civilisation anywhere, with mounds spread over several villages and evidence of planned streets, drains and a burial ground. Other Harappan and pre-Harappan sites are Banawali, Kunal and Bhirrana in Fatehabad district, Mitathal in Bhiwani, and Siswal and Agroha in Hisar; Agroha's mound is linked in tradition with Maharaja Agrasen. Banawali is remembered for being laid out without the usual separate citadel and lower town, and for a terracotta plough model.

Kurukshetra, Thanesar and Panipat

Kurukshetra is the heart of the state's heritage. Jyotisar is held to be the spot where the Bhagavad Gita was spoken, the Brahma Sarovar is among the largest sacred tanks in the country, and the Sthaneshwar Mahadev temple at Thanesar gives the town its name; Thanesar was also the seat of the Pushyabhuti dynasty of Harshavardhana. Beside it stands the tomb of Sheikh Chilli, built in marble and sandstone with a Persian dome, often called the Taj Mahal of Haryana; it is associated with Abd-ur-Rahim, known as Sheikh Chilli, a teacher of Dara Shikoh. Panipat carries the memory of three battles: the Kabuli Bagh mosque, built by Babur after the first battle of 1526, the tomb of Ibrahim Lodi, the Kala Amb memorial of the third battle of 1761, and the Devi temple and Salar Gunj gate. At nearby Pehowa, called Prithudaka, pilgrims come to the Saraswati.

Tughlaq towns and Mughal buildings

Firoz Shah Tughlaq founded Hisar in 1354 as Hisar-e-Firoza, and the Firoz Shah palace complex there includes the Gujari Mahal and the Lat ki Masjid, which uses a pillar shaft from an earlier age. He also built at Fatehabad, where a Lat and the mosque called Humayun's mosque stand. Hansi in Hisar district has the Asigarh fort, linked in tradition with Prithviraj Chauhan, with its Khalji-period Barsi gate. Narnaul, in Mahendragarh district, is a museum of sixteenth and seventeenth century building: the Jal Mahal of Shah Quli Khan, set in a tank, Birbal ka Chhatta, the many-storeyed house of Rai Bal Mukund Das, the Chor Gumbad of the Tughlaq period, and the tomb of Ibrahim Khan Sur, grandfather of Sher Shah Suri. The Pinjore garden in Panchkula, also called the Yadavindra garden, is a terraced Mughal garden laid out by Nawab Fidai Khan in Aurangzeb's reign and later cared for by the Patiala rulers.

Tanks, towns and later palaces

Surajkund in Faridabad is a stepped reservoir attributed to the Tomar king Surajpal, and the Surajkund crafts mela is held beside it every February. Farrukhnagar in Gurugram district, founded in the eighteenth century by Faujdar Khan, has the Sheesh Mahal and the Gaus Ali Shah baoli. The Nahar Singh Mahal at Ballabgarh recalls the raja who was hanged after 1857. Tosham in Bhiwani district has a rock inscription in Brahmi of the Gupta age, and Madhogarh and Mahendragarh forts guard the southern hills, where Dhosi hill is linked with the sage Chyavana. Religious heritage includes the gurudwaras of Nada Sahib in Panchkula and Manji Sahib at Kaithal, while the Shri Krishna Museum at Kurukshetra and the Dharohar museum hold the state's collections.

Monument and district