Tania Qureshi takes the readers inside Summer Palace, a little known space inside the Sheesh Mahal of Lahore Fort. The well-constructed palace was used as a summer house by the royal families and its mesmerizing appearance tells tales of bygone days.Have you ever been to the Summer Palace of the Lahore Fort? I am sure very few of us know about this hidden jewel which is the massive basement of Sheesh Mahal, the house of mirrors, inside Lahore Fort. The summer palace and Sheesh Mahal were known as jewel palaces in 1631. You will be surprised to know that Summer Palace was also known as Pari Mahal (Fairy Palace) but now no one knows much about it. It was a closed space inside Lahore Fort and was not visited by the tourists. This is one reason why most people do not know about this mesmerizing space inside the huge Lahore Fort.

Recently opened and renovated part of Lahore fort before this public has not access to this part of Lahore fort

Really stunning view from there

The summer palace and Sheesh Mahal were known as jewel palaces in 1631. Summer Palace was also known as Pari Mahal (Fairy Palace) but now no one knows much about it as it is hidden from public and also not much information is available on the internet about it. This palace is actually the basement of the Sheesh Mahal, the palace of mirrors. The entrance of the huge decorated basement is from the elephant stairs through a small door. As you will open the door cool breeze will embrace you, it’s the mechanism of the basement. If you go inside it, you will hardly see anything till your eyes familiarise with the dim lights. Only the golden sun rays are peeping in through the windows, the only source of light.This palace was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a summer house for the royal families. This is the amazing feature of the palace; the ventilation systems keep the place cold during the scorching summer heat and humidity. The labyrinth style basement with tunnels endorse that it was the secret escape route of the royal families. The tunnels led to the River Ravi which was flowing near the Lahore Fort in those times. The boats of the Royal family were parked near the palace and in case of any attack they would have escaped through these tunnels.