Location of Magen Shalom
Walking past the NJV School and moving towards the Young Women’s Christian Association building (both beautiful structures of historical import) there’s a road that separates the two and leads into a lively locality. They call it Jamila Street, a representative of the Karachi that’s slowly but surely slipping our minds. To its left are Anjuman Bagh (a compound where Parsis live) and two Ranchhore Lines schools, one of which is a pre-partition entity.
Before you arrive at a place where a few years back Jubilee cinema screened countless Punjabi and Urdu flicks (not anymore though) there’s a bunch of old buildings that have undergone many a change but still maintain most of their original architectural attributes.
First up the Ibrahim Mansion will grab your attention. Annexed to it are Haji Bashir Beg building, Karim Manzil, Halima Bai and Pandia buildings. Dates of construction are mentioned at the entrance of a couple of these structures, for instance 1941 is etched on top of Karim Manzil’s entryway. Obviously additions have been made to these beauties, turning them into look-alike of contemporary Karachi concrete high-rises. Just when you inch closer to a bustling round-about, you’ll see an unusual edifice called Chandio building. Reason being that it is topped by a dome. Now stop here for a moment. Turn right and get pleasantly surprised. Who would’ve thought that there was a Maharashtra Mitra Mandal in Karachi? Well, there is. It is a tiny house-like building that may have been used as a Mitra Mandal (friends’ council) for Maharashtrans before 1947. After all, Karachi used to be a part of the Bombay Presidency. Not much information is available on the Mandal, but what can’t be disputed is that Maharashtrans too were a component of the pluralistic rainbow of Karachi before partition.
A few steps ahead of the Chandio building lies the Hassanli Hoti Market constructed in 1926. The big columns at its entrance impart a unique touch to it. Move a hundred yards or so forward, and you’ll see a residential-cum-commercial structure in the corner of a road intersection on whose ground floor cloth-sellers and other vendors make their presence felt by waving their hands as if carrying magic wands to lure potential buyers. That’s the site where, arguably, some people believe the synagogue survived until the 1980s.”
Read more about this topic: Magain Shalome Synagogue