Ghanta Ghar, Multan's clock tower, stands at the chowk that marks the edge of the old walled city, and it is as much a gathering point and a gateway to the bazaars as it is a monument. Built by the British between 1884 and 1888, it still keeps the tower and hall functions that made it Multan's civic centre for more than a century, and the streets around it are the busiest, most atmospheric part of the city after dark.
This guide covers the tower's history, what the building is used for today, and how to spend an evening walking the bazaars around it.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Built | 1884 to 1888, under British administration |
| Original names | Ripon Hall and Northbrook Tower |
| Renamed | Jinnah Hall, after 1947 |
| Site | Ruins of the Haveli of Ahmad Khan Sadozai, destroyed in the siege of Multan |
| Location | Ghanta Ghar Chowk, edge of the old walled city |
| Entry | Free to view from outside; the hall is used for events, not open as a museum |
| Best time to visit | Early evening, when the surrounding bazaars are busiest |
Why the British built it
Ghanta Ghar was built as a piece of civic infrastructure, not a monument for its own sake. After the Punjab Municipal Act of 1883 required cities to organise local administration, Multan needed offices to run it from, and construction began on 12 February 1884. It took four years to complete, opening in 1888 with the municipal offices moving in soon after.
The building went up on the ruins of the Haveli of Ahmad Khan Sadozai, a mansion destroyed during the siege of Multan decades earlier, so the site itself carries an older layer of the city's history under the colonial one. Architecturally, it is usually described as Indo-Saracenic, a deliberate blend of English civic design with Mughal-influenced detail, built in brick with the arched openings and decorative brackets typical of the style.
From Ripon Hall to Jinnah Hall
The hall and the tower were named after two viceroys of British India: the hall as Ripon Hall, after the Marquess of Ripon, and the tower as Northbrook Tower, after the Earl of Northbrook, who had held the post a decade or so earlier. After independence in 1947, the hall was renamed Jinnah Hall, and it is still used today for office meetings and cultural programmes, with the building open to the public rather than sealed off as a static monument.
Locally, the whole complex is simply Ghanta Ghar, the clock tower, and the surrounding intersection is known as Ghanta Ghar Chowk.
What there is to see today
There is no ticketed entry and no museum inside; Ghanta Ghar is a working municipal building with a public clock face, and the interest for most visitors is the building itself and the street life around it rather than anything to view inside. The tower is a useful landmark for finding your way through the old city's tangle of lanes, and it photographs well against the bazaar traffic in the evening light.
If you are also seeing Multan's shrines, Ghanta Ghar sits within easy reach of the fort mound; our guide to Multan Fort and Qasim Bagh covers the walk up to the tombs on the other side of the old city.
The bazaars around Ghanta Ghar Chowk
The chowk is the meeting point of several of Multan's older commercial streets, and each has its own character:
- Kachehri Bazaar, running towards Kachehri Road, is a wholesale and retail market for textiles, stationery and household goods.
- Chowk Bazaar, immediately around the tower, is a general market for clothing, accessories and everyday items.
- Hussain Agahi, a short walk further into the old city, is Multan's oldest and most famous bazaar, covered in detail in our guide to shopping in Multan and our roundup of Multan's famous food.
Street food is a fixture of the area around Ghanta Ghar itself, with stalls and small eateries doing steady business through the evening as the bazaars fill up.
An evening walk around Ghanta Ghar
Late afternoon into evening is the right time for this walk, once the day's heat has eased and the shops and food stalls are at their liveliest.
- Start at Ghanta Ghar Chowk as the light softens, and take a few minutes to look at the tower itself before moving into the lanes.
- Walk into Chowk Bazaar, browsing the general stalls without any particular target.
- Continue towards Hussain Agahi, where the crowd thickens and the food stalls start to dominate.
- Stop for street food or a sweet from one of the old city's dairy or halwa shops along the way.
- Loop back towards Ghanta Ghar as it gets dark, when the tower and the chowk around it are at their most atmospheric, lit up against the evening traffic.
Allow an hour and a half to two hours for an unhurried version of this walk, more if you stop to eat properly rather than just snacking.
Is Ghanta Ghar worth a special trip?
On its own, no: it is a handsome colonial-era clock tower rather than a major sight in the way Multan's shrines are. What makes it worth including is its position as the natural starting point for an evening in the old city's bazaars, somewhere to orient yourself before or after a day spent at the fort mound and the shrines. Build it into an evening walk rather than a dedicated visit, and it earns its place.
Frequently asked questions
Can you go inside Ghanta Ghar?
The hall, now called Jinnah Hall, is used for office meetings and cultural events and is generally open to the public, but there is no museum display inside; most visitors see the building from the chowk outside.
Why is Ghanta Ghar also called Ripon Hall or Northbrook Tower?
Those were its original British-era names, given after two viceroys of India when it was built in the 1880s. It was renamed Jinnah Hall after Pakistan's independence in 1947.
What was on the site before Ghanta Ghar was built?
The Haveli of Ahmad Khan Sadozai, a mansion that was destroyed during the siege of Multan, once stood on the same ground.
What bazaars are near Ghanta Ghar?
Kachehri Bazaar and Chowk Bazaar are immediately around the chowk, and Hussain Agahi, Multan's oldest and largest bazaar, is a short walk further into the old city.
Is Ghanta Ghar free to visit?
Yes. There is no entry fee to see the tower or walk through the surrounding bazaars.
