Nanak shahi bricks

Nanak Shahi (from the times of Nanak) brick was most commonly used for its intrinsic advantages. They were the decorated bricks used in Mughal era. Nanak Shahi bricks were kind of brick tiles of moderate dimensions used for reinforcing lime concretes in the structural walls and other components which were generally very thick. The brick-tile made mouldings, cornices, plasters, etc., easy to work into a variety of shapes. More often than not, the structures, especially the Sikh temples (gurudwaras) were a combination of the two systems, viz, trabeated or post-and-lintal, and acerated or based on arches. The surfaces were treated with lime or gypsum plaster which was moulded into cornices, pilasters, and other structural as well as non-structural embellishments.

Brick, lime mortar as well as lime or gypsum plaster, and lime concrete were the most favoured building materials, although stone: such as red stone and white marble, were also used in a number of shrines. The Nanak Shahi Bricks found use more as cladding or decorative material than for meeting structural needs for well over two hundred years.