For good or bad, Qutb Minar has over shadowed the rest of Mehrauli. I can give you names of several monuments which are completely neglected and in the danger of completely disappearing under modern city; it is high time for us to give due to these forgotten monuments. Mehrauli village is a unique place with ancient buildings, medieval tombs, mosques, sufi shrines, palaces and havelis, sarais, reservoirs, step wells and tanks, you name it and it has it all. Our heritage walk this Sunday, covered a little bit of this vast area. We started our trail with Yogmaya temple. (more…)

One of the lesser known sites of Delhi, this 100 acres green land has 70 odd monuments scattered around. The reason why Mehrauli Archaeological Park fascinates history lovers is because of its wild, un-kept look interspersed with monuments dating back from the first fortified capital, Lal Kot up till British period. The first monument we covered on this heritage walk was built by one of the powerful ‘slave kings’, Sultan Balban. (more…)

The image of the Qutb Minar is synonymous with Delhi. Much like India Gate, we find it on practically every book, pamphlet, publication on Delhi. There is no avoiding it in school textbooks or school picnics either! We have grown up reading about it, taking visiting relatives to the Qutb (that was before the Saket malls came up). The fact that it is one of the better maintained sites in Delhi has added to its popularity with both locals & tourists alike. And it also has a World Heritage Site tag to boot.  There is no doubt to Qutb’s importance to history & much of it is deeply contested. Our heritage walk here focused less on the Qutb Minar itself but more on the relationship of the Qutb to the surrounding monuments, their development in Delhi’s history & the anecdotes about people who shaped the site & thereby our ‘experience’ of it. (more…)

On the day of separation from you in helplessness and loneliness, nothing consoles us but the sorrow we feel for you.

O Jamali! Resort to the door of the friend, for our refuge is the door of the beloved.

These are lines by poet & traveller, Sheikh Fazlullah, who went by the pen name Jamali. And his name lives on today…the park where our heritage walk was organized is locally known as Jamali Kamali. Officially, the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, very few know it by that name. The Mehrauli Archaeological Park is a minefield of archaeological remains! Everywhere the eye goes, there are remains of historic settlements, some almost devoured by vegetation. Close to the entrance is a clearing, beyond a gateway, which is a recently excavated archaeological site. I shared some of my surface finds with the group: a small clay toy shaped like a horse, bits & pieces of pottery! (more…)

I would like to start off writing about this heritage walk with an anecdote about a family who were trying to reach the venue on the morning of the 10^th.  This couple & their girl of 10 years of age are regulars on our heritage walks. Their taxi driver stopped outside the Old Fort & told them that this is the only qila/old ruin around here, so this must be Kotla. The girl took one look at the walls of the old fort & promptly informed her family that this does not look like a Tughluq period building & they should keep looking for Kotla! (more…)