Our team at Delhi Heritage Walks had an opportunity to interact with students of St. Thomas School, Sahibabad and take them on a heritage walk at Mehrauli Archaeological Park. It was the last working day for them and they were all excited to explore! These were class X students and it was their first heritage walk. All were locals to Sahibabad but were well familiar with Delhi, its main historic site like the Qutb complex, the Red Fort & the Lotus Temple. Continue Reading This Post

A large part of our city’s monumental heritage is invisible…hidden behind massive malls, residential colonies. This is the first realization to strike anyone who begins exploring Mehrauli Archaeological Park. Our first thought is ‘we have driven past this road a hundred times, but never realized all this lay behind it!’ Our heritage walk in Mehrauli weaves its way through some of the most interesting monuments in Delhi. Mehrauli being the area where the first cities of Delhi came up: the Tomars, the Chauhans, the Turkish slaves had their capitals here; the Lal Kot, Qila Rai Pithora and the Qutb area. Even when the capital shifted this area continued to be settled. So today we find remains from different time periods in this region. Our first stop is a clearing which was created by archaeological work here, about a year ago. It revealed a stone floor, some foundations, rooms, graves. Continue Reading This Post

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 verses 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. Our group of 20 odd met at the entrance to the Park and began exploring. 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. Continue Reading This Post

Our restlessness in your love has passed beyond bounds, our hope is that you will pity our weeping.

How could your pardon be known, had we not shown ourselves guilty!

These are verses penned by Jamali, a traveler and poet who lived in the 16^th century. Today his name lives on as an area in Mehrauli called ‘Jamali Kamali’ or the Mehrauli Archaeological Park. Our heritage walk in this park covers some very interesting landmarks of Indian history. We start our heritage trail near Balban’s tomb. The area around the tomb was recently excavated to reveal a courtyard and some rooms and grave platforms. A few months ago, the whole patch of land was covered in silt and vegetation and there was a only a narrow path among the vegetation, leading to Balban’s tomb. Continue Reading This Post