The Well of Dina Nath ( ur, ) was intended to be a

water well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. Th ...

in the

Wazir Khan Chowk The Wazir Khan Chowk ( ur, ) is a town square located in the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan that is located at the main entrance of the Wazir Khan Mosque. Location Wazir Khan Chowk is located at the main entrance to the Wazir Khan Mosque, and i ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The well's construction by in the 19th century by a Sikh nobleman sparked controversy, given its location in the immediate vicinity of the

Wazir Khan Mosque ; ''Masjid Wazīr Khān'') is a 17th-century mosque located in the city of Lahore, capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab. The mosque was commissioned during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a part of an ensemble of buildings tha ...

History

The well was commissioned by

Raja Dina Nath Raja Dina Nath Madan (Razdan) (1795–1857) aka Diwan Dina Nath or Dina Nath, who was a Kashmiri Hindu, rose to the position of the Privy Seal and finance minister ( Diwan) in the Punjab empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Life Dina Nath was civil ad ...

in the mid 19th century under the reign of

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

. The well was not built as an open well, but is instead enclosed within a walled structure.

Legend

It is said that Nath wished to build his well near the site of a well dug

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

saint Said Soaf despite strong objections from local Muslim leaders who viewed construction of a second well to be antagonistic to the saint's memory. Disregarding their warnings and objections, Dina Nath ordered construction to begin on the site. After 200 metres of digging, labourers could not tap a water source, and refused to dig any further, much to the embarrassment of Dina Nath. The well has remained dry ever since, and remains a local monument.

Restoration

The well fell into disrepair, and was eventually surrounded by illegally constructed shops which had encroached upon the

. In 2012, the

Aga Khan Trust for Culture The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a family of institutions created by Aga Khan IV with distinct but complementary mandates to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developin ...

and the Government of Punjab launched restoration efforts which have since removed the illegal shops, restoring public access to the well.

References

Architecture of Lahore Buildings and structures in Lahore Walled City of Lahore Sikh architecture Water wells {{Pakistan-struct-stub