RAI LALA CHUNNAMAL HAVELI CHANDNI CHOWK

Rai lala Chunnamal was a very wealthy man at the time of British rule in India. He had build a haveli in 1848 for his residence . He was the eldest son of lala Mutsaddi lal of Lahore. In about the closure of 16 th century lala Chunnamal's ancestors migrated from lahore to Delhi. They are punjabi khatri. In capital Delhi they flourished as a big business house.They had three branches in Lahore Calcutta and farukkabad with their head office in Delhi. Lala Mutsaddi lal father of chunnamal and his brother had build temple in kata Nill for public good.They also build dharamsala for public use.lala Chunnamal was a Royal merchant of Shawls and silk clothing and brocade. He used to sold his products to king's court and royal family.He was a very shrewd businessman.  He used to lend money to Empror .

At the time of sepoy mutiny the then king Bhahdur shah zafar asked for some financial support but calls chunnamal refused and left Delhi overnight. He already preassuming the situation transferred his wealth out of the city. For this he was not liked by Ghalib the great poet .Chunnamal returned to Delhi after British captured the thorne.He at the time of British rule in an auction bought fatehpuri masjid made by the mughal emperor Shahjahan for rs 19000 and saved it from demolition. This incident proved the poet wrong as Ghalib said chunnamal a man of low birth. British removed forcefully all the muslims from Delhi. Lala chunnamal as a good heart hindu kept the mosque locked until muslim again came to Delhi .Twenty years later in 1877 British  lifted prohibition against muslims entering or living in Delhi.At that time muslim again started namaj in 

In fatehpuri masjid.Chunnamal was given four villages in exchange of mosque under the rule of Queen Victoria. It is a saying that Chunnamal earned rs one lac daily at that period.He was first municipal commissioner under British rule. He had bought half of shahanabad .He had Gulabi bagh garden.He had munsis to collect rent. He was the major partnering Delhi london bank.He used to lend money to British for railways and making roads from shahnabad to Mehrolli where yog maya mandir is He had build temples and had given his properties for public use.He had first car' telephone and first electricity connection in Delhi.The haveli situtes at 838 katra Nil Chandni chowk.  But if you post a letter by just writing Chunnamal haveli Delhi 6 it will reach to current scion of chunnamal. Mansion has 128 rooms and 130 shops below. It has three entrances and garage where horses were kept.Haveli is in an about one acre area.The haveli was build in 1848 .lala chunnamal passed away on 24th January 1870.Now a days his 6th 7th and 8th generation lives here.Shri Anil prashad the current owner have maintained mansion in good condition without any government support. One of the scion of the family Rajiv mohan had married to actress Simi Grewal. Many Bollywood actors and directors used to visit haveli for the purpose of shooting.Actress Kate Winslet had also visited here.Above all Pt Jawhar lal Nehru and Mrs Indira Gandhi also were in the visitor list as they came here for Dinner.At the time of British rule many officers from royal court came to haveli for meetings etc.The haveli is beautiful from inside till today.The drawing room is in over 700 square feet area .It has 18 feet high ceiling The ceiling is decorated with enamel art work and Belgian chandeliers The chandeliers were for candle lighting and were later converted into electrical when electricity came to haveli.There is a heavily decorated Belgian mirror just in front of the entrance. The ancient ceiling fans suspended from high ceiling. Finely crafted lamp shades

from Europe made it historical and wonderful. Mr Anil has two sons working in south Delhi and grandsons and a grand daughter studies in Modern school .Mr Anil says that lala Chunnamal had baghis also parked in garage. A marriage function of 600 people can be done without any Caterer support as haveli has big karahi and bhigona etc for cooking food.MrAnil says that 50 members of the family used to live here at some time ago. Now many of the family members have locked their share in the mansion and shifted to other suburbs in the city.Mr Anil prashad and his sons and grand children are loving and enjoying living here.There are many historical mansions in chandni chowk area but only some have been preserved and many of them vanished with time and lost their identity due lack of government interest. These structures should be preserved as they are our heritage and shows our rich culture to the world . It can also used for earning revenue by government from visitors if it is well maintained.