A Visit to Javed Manzil: Allama Iqbal Museum

I visited Javed Manzil, or Allama Iqbal Museum, as it is also called, in October this year during a trip to Lahore. The museum used to be the house of the renown Poet of the East; Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The place was constructed a few years before Iqbal's death, and he constructed it on his own expense. However, he dedicated the house to his son, Javed Iqbal, thus calling it Javed Manzil. Since he had given the house to his son, and he had to live in it as well, he actually paid his son the rent for the four rooms he occupied in the house.

A few years after Iqbal’s death, the Government of Pakistan bought the house from Javed Iqbal to turn it into a museum. The museum was opened for the public in 1984.

Once inside the museum, a guide showed us around and told us lots of things about the house. In one corner, Iqbal’s prayer mat was laid out the way it used to be during his life. Hanging above it were some verses of his poetry.

Many of the rooms of his house had been turned into galleries, which showcased Iqbal’s letters, articles, drafts of his works, his personal diaries, certificates, medals, and more. There were also galleries displaying his clothes, shoes, and other accessories. There was a huge carpet hanging on one wall which had been a gift for Iqbal from the king of Afghanistan. Photographs of Iqbal and his family members, as well as parts from his poems were hung in various places throughout the museum.

The four rooms which had been in Iqbal’s use were preserved the way they had been when he had died. The first room was his bedroom. His bed, bedsheet, covers, and pillow were the same he had used. There was a small table which had the medicines he was using before he died. Hiss bookshelf was next to his bed, filled with books. His room clock had been stopped at 4:03, the time he had died.

The other rooms were his dining room and drawing room, which had his sofas, dining table, chairs, cooking utensils, and pots. The fourth room which used to be in his use had been turned into the museum office.

It was a small museum, with a simple interior, but it was clean and well maintained. The visit definitely taught us a lot about our historic figure and his life. Anyone who visits Lahore must visit this museum if he\she is interested to learn about Allama Iqbal.

Thank you.