Unique Laddakhi Imambara in Shimla

Muharram Procession in Shimla

Dr.Mazhar Naqvi

The ‘Laddakhi’ Imambara in Shimla deserves more awareness among the Imamis. It is probably the only Imambara that owes its existence not to any ruler or affluent person but to the collective efforts of poor porters. Obviously, the Imambara in terms of architecture is not a visual treat like majestic Imambara of Lucknow but the spirit behind its construction is undoubtedly matchless. The blogger says so because Laddakhi Imambara symbolizes that nothing can dampen the spirit of an Imami and he would perform Aza-E-Hussain wherever the destiny takes him and it makes no difference to him whether he has the resources to mourn the martyrdom of Imam or not. Shimla is the capital of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, in the Himalayan foothills.

Once the summer capital of British India; Shimla has a very interesting history of its origin, gradual growth and development. It was taken from the Jhind Rana in 1815 and given to the Patiala King for assisting the British in the Nepal War. It is however, claimed by Mr. A. Wilson in his ‘Abode of Snow’ that  Shimla  was first made known by Gerard brothers. Their diary, dated August 30th, 1817, describes Shimla as a village where a fakir gives water to travelers. In 1819, Lt. Ross, Assistant Political Agent - Hill States, built a cottage of wood and thatch. This was probably the first British House in Shimla. In 1827, Lord Amherst, the then Governor General of India, visited Shimla to spend summer months there. Thereafter, the movement of British Officers to Shimla in the summers became a regular phenomenon. Another factor that enhanced the popularity of Shimla was its health giving attribute.

The large-scale program of construction, especially roads and bridges to facilitate travelling to Shimla attracted a large number of laborers from Laddakh. They sold their labor to make their own ends meet. The tradition of migrant labor in Laddakh has been documented since at least the mid-19th century. A traveler in 1852 found most of Leh’s male population absent, working in the sulphur and borax mines at Puga, leaving the womenfolk to work as porters, both carrying travelers’ baggage on the roads and shifting loads of merchandise in Leh bazaar. As Shimla offered comparatively high prices for coolie labor, Laddakhis left their native place to work as porters in the merging British summer capital. They were engaged primarily for bringing planks, heavy beams and rough timber for building purposes from the forests. They settled in an area below the cart road that is today known as Laddakhi Mohalla. By 1910, it was an established fact that most of the load- carrying porters called as Coolies in local parlance, as opposed to the rickshaw-pullers—in Shimla were either Kashmiris, or Imamis from Kargil. It is these porters who constructed the Imambara and even British have narrated in their accounts that the social life of Laddakhis centered in and around the shrine erected in memory of Karbala martyrs. The Imambara is at present under the management of Anjuman-E-Haideri that is also the chief organizer of Aza-E-Hussain in Shimla during Muharram every year. The role of Anjuman is praise worthy in view of very less number of Imamis in Shimla.