The Mishdi Chronicles

I was flipping through a magazine on one of the leisure afternoons, when a small column on a heritage hotel in a small village of Himachal Pradesh caught my attention. I had never heard of this place before. This village called ‘Garli’ found a decorated place in this leading magazine’s second last page which certainly was to intrigue the readers.

The article was all about a heritage mansion in Garli called ‘Château Garli’, beautifully restored and renovated to its present grandeur.

A heritage village in Kangra valley, Garli is known for the ostentatious homes of the Suds and other wealthy merchants of Himachal Pradesh. These wealthy businessmen were the contractors of the British and were involved in various construction projects of the British Government in India. Amongst them, the Suds were a prominent business house who were the treasurers of the Kangra Royals and the timber merchants who helped the British build up Shimla. In the process, they amassed enormous wealth and built for themselves luxurious mansions, visibly inspired by the English and Portuguese architecture.

Garli and Pragpur are the two neighbouring villages which still reminisce their patrons through the dilapidated windows and doors of the ruined buildings which once were a bespoke embodiment of opulence and fine architecture and thrived with riches.

The village of Garli is about 47 km from Gaggal airport near Dharamshala and 147 km from Chandigarh. The distance between Garli and Pragpur is 4 km.

This small village in Himachal Pradesh was much advanced as compared to the rest of the country when India was under British Rule and undeveloped. Garli’s infrastructure including town planning, schools, hospitals, and sanitation, was a league ahead.

Fortunately, I came across this article on Garli at a time when I had planned a trip to Kangra valley. The description of Garli was so alluring that I couldn’t contain the desire and did some instant tweaking in my itinerary to include Garli. Spending a night at this quaint little hamlet was an unforgettable experience. I managed to stay in the iconic haveli called Château Garli which the magazine had described in the most beautiful way. This place was restored and renovated quite aesthetically by balancing the contrasting styles, colours and materials to create an alchemy of perfection. Now converted into a heritage hotel, Château Garli was originally constructed by Lala Mela Ram Sud in 1921.

Lala Mela Ram Sud was a wealthy merchant of Himachal during British Rule in India. His business acumen not only earned him opulence, but his affiliation with leading political names of India’s freedom struggle. I was told by the locals and the staff of the hotel that Mahatma Gandhi visited Garli and stayed in one of the havelis lined up on both the sides of the road.

I could also spot a passé-par-tout of Mela Ram Sud with Gandhiji adorning one of the walls of the hotel’s reception.

I stayed in Château Garli for a night on my way to Kangra valley. This heritage haveli looked like a solitary solitaire in the necklace of elegant Garli. The hotel has been renovated by Shri Yatish Sud and his son Amish Sud with ceiling artwork and motifs hand-painted by Amish’s sister Tarini, the descendants of Lala Mela Ram. The haveli has nineteen rooms and all of them flaunt an unapologetically indulgent and luxurious charm with teak wood furniture, silk upholstery, vintage mirrors and cut-glass chandeliers, all adding to the royal flavour. The owners are into the hotel business already and own other properties in Shimla and Naldhera.

The first glance at Château Garli was breathtaking. For a moment, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Before me stood a flamboyant mansion oozing out grace from every bit of its design and architecture. The mansion was an eclectic amalgam of various architectural styles and it seemed difficult to confine it to any particular pattern or design.

The haveli had an overpowering whiff of English architecture, yet the elements of Indian, Portuguese, Moroccan, Spanish and Persian styles couldn’t be ruled out. This unique mélange of various techniques only confirmed my belief that the Suds of Garli were great travellers who must have traversed across the world to have such a vision in those times when India was a fledgling.

The reception of the property was strewn around with articles like brassware, earthen pots, old books, ceramic vases etc from the ancestry of the family who owned this haveli. Even in the courtyard, antiques were nicely arranged giving the entire place a nice and charming heritage look. This fine placing of articles also caught the attention of the visitors.

Chateau Garli was divided into two parts. The portion adjacent to the entrance and the reception was the old construction which has been restored with utmost sincerity to retain every possible element of antiquity and originality. The second portion has been newly created borrowing the styles from the old buildings scattered around Garli. This portion has been donned with lovely mirror and glass work along with a swimming pool in the front reflecting the new haveli artistically in its blue waters at different hours of the day.

In the evening, we decided to go for a walk around the village and photograph some of the other heritage havelis, most of which were lying in ruins. To our surprise, we discovered about twenty such mansions hidden quietly inside this small village. It was not easy for us to find them amidst the labyrinth of narrow lanes, yet their starkly dominating appearance made those stand apart from the rest of the modern construction.

Without a guide, it would have been difficult for us to find these heritage houses, however, the locals there were so friendly that they seamlessly guided us through the entire village. A family went on to this extent that they invited us for a cup of tea in their house. The gesture of the family moved us deeply.

A lady we met on the way kept walking with us till we reached our destination, manifesting a great amount of care and simplicity that the people in this village possessed in their character. Such generosity and affection shown by the locals were overwhelming.

The village had a cooperative society, a civil hospital and schools for boys and girls separately. All these institutions were housed in swanky heritage buildings which were quite clean and maintained.

We spotted another hotel on our village tour called Naurang Yatri Niwas, about 1.5 km from Château Garli. This building was another work of art and quite impressive, thus presenting to us a soothing palette of visual treat. We tried to gather some information about this structure. We were told that this Yatri Niwas was originally built in 1922 by Shri Rai Bahadur Mohanlal to facilitate the stay of some important Government functionary from Punjab, who came to attend a wedding in Garli. Later this building was used as a sarai for travellers. The entire structure gradually collapsed to ruins out of neglect and lack of usage. The descendants of Shri Mohanlal renovated the building in 2013 and now it is being used as a hotel with all the modern amenities.

One of these days, I visited Qutub Minar in Delhi in the evening. The Government has introduced a laser show in the evening around 8 pm. It was quite pleasant to find a mention of Garli in that fifteen minute show as a heritage village of Himachal Pradesh embellished with iconic havelis of the bygone era. A business community which gave Garli its name and reputation today is worth admiring.

I would not do justice to my writing if I do not mention Lala Mela Ram Sud once again in this piece. Lalaji was truly a visionary who gave this village a name to be cherished for years. Though there are no concrete evidences available about Lalaji who is said to have accompanied Mahatma Gandhi on his trip to Shimla for signing of Gandhi-Irwin Pact, the photo frame dangling from the reception wall of Château Garli, perhaps from that moment when they were coming out of the viceregal house after signing the pact, may be a testimony of the fact. However, this entire account is narrated by the locals fondly without any written historical accounts about it.

There is also a small well within the compound of Château Garli which has now been fully covered to avoid any accident. It is said that Lalaji constructed this well in his house but opened it for the public, considering the water crisis the town faced back then. Very close to this well, today exist two community pumps for the common use of the people. I spotted a woman from the village fetching water from the tap though the pumps were within the gated premises of the haveli.

Garli had many mansions which were constructed around the same time. Today, some lie in absolute ruins, some have been converted into luxurious heritage hotels and a few are being used as ancestral homes of the families of the village. All these houses began their journey together but met different fates over the years. Despite this, the village of Garli stands tall as a proud patron to these jewels.

Garli is like doting parents who love all their children equally, despite the fact that their children meet different destinies in the course of their lives. Garli strongly holds on to all its havelis like its own children and dazzles bright on the geographical and cultural map of India today.