Akbari Sarai | Mosque

A cluster of monuments situated in what was once the Mughal Dilkusha Bagh (heart expanding garden) on the bank of River Ravi in Shahdara town. The group includes an array of interlinked monuments like Jahangir’s tomb, Akbari Serai and Asif Khan’s tomb. Akbari Serai serves as a forecourt of these monuments and gardens. The lofty double-storey imposing Mughal gateway leads into the quadrangle known, the Akbari Seri. The structural evidences like size of bricks and general plan of gardens and buildings, as a whole, suggest that Serai and the entrance gateway of the tomb of Jahangir were built during the same time that was Shahjahan period. The Serai was meant for the wayfarers and also to accommodate the establishment looking after the tomb. During the British period towards the end of 19th century A.D it was used as the manufacturing depot of the North Western Railway.In the middle of western row of the chambers/ cells of the Serai, stands a grand mosque with impressive lofty arches and inlay work typical of Shahjahan period, composed of similar elements as the gateways of Serai contain. This mosque during the 19th century A.D. was forced to serve as a private European residence.