DEHRADUN: Mayor Sunil Uniyal Gama nnounced a few days ago that he is planning to rename Lansdowne Chowk after Maharaja Pradyumna Shah, the 54th king of Garhwal. However, Shah’s samadhi in the city — at the very spot where he breathed his last — has been lying in ruins for decades.The two-roomed dilapidated building lies hidden among shops and godowns in Khurbura, one of the most crowded markets in the city. The area is believed to be the spot where the maharaja was shot by a Gorkha soldier, Kaji Ranjit Kunwar during a fierce battle in May 1804.Shishupal Gosain, president, Pradyumna Shah Smarak Nirman Samiti, told TOI that Shah along with 10,000 sword-wielding soldiers of his army was fighting against 4000 Gorkhas, 3000 of whom were carrying guns. “The maharaja had arranged his army with great difficulty. Following a devastating earthquake in 1803, the entire Garhwal was in ruins. When the Gorkhas mounted an attack on the kingdom, Shah had to sell his family jewels to arrange an army of 10,000 soldiers with the help of around 25 smaller kings. However, this largely untrained army was no match for the fighting force of the Gorkhas and the king died while fighting alongside his army.”Pradyumna Shah’s son, Sudarshan Shah later joined hands with the British and gave Dehradun as well as a part of Tehri to them. “Sudarshan Shah built this samadhi around two years after his father’s death to mark the spot where he was killed,” Gosain said.Over two centuries later, the samadhi is in shambles. The roof of the building has collapsed, the walls are riddled with cracks and the premises are infested with rodents and dogs while the front yard has become a site for dumping garbage.Even most of the locals are oblivious of the significance of the place. “Till some time back, a guard used to be stationed here but after he left, the place has simply become a home to stray animals,” said Swadesh Jain, a trader.