Posts Tagged ‘Rajesh Ranjan’

Heritage Walk in Kotla Firuz Shah, 8 Aug 2010

August 9, 2010 in Delhi Heritage Walks,DHW,Heritage Walks,Kotla Firuz Shah,Kotla Firuz Shah Heritage Walks,Walk of the Month | Comments (0)

(photos by Chhavi Sharma, team member, Delhi Heritage Walks & Vinay Kumar, a regular at our walks)

The ‘walk of the month’ for August was Kotla Firuz Shah: a 14th century citadel built by the Tughluq king, Firuz Shah. A group of about 20 heritage enthusiasts braved Delhi’s summer to be part of this walk. For some of us it was a trip down the memory lane…those who had lived in the neighbourhood of Kotla and spent their childhood frequenting the ruins here, bunking classes and hiding away from home. Kotla is relatively lesser known among the historic cities of Delhi for most Delhiites. But for the locals it is actually a shrine of great significance. The locals believe that the ruins are inhabited by jinns. Continue Reading This Post


Walk A Rain! Heritage walk through the landmarks of 1857, 1 Aug 2010

August 4, 2010 in 1857,Delhi Heritage Walks,DHW,Heritage Walks,Kashmiri Gate,Kashmiri Gate Heritage Walks | Comments (0)

It was yet another lovely morning and excitement brewing as I was about to lead my third walk with the Delhi Heritage Walks. Kashmiri gate and neighborhood is area we would be visiting about. After waiting for few minutes longer than decided time, I proceeded with bunch of 10 people to Nicholson’s Cemetery. Since the last time I was here, it seemed that graveyard had freshly bathed with monsoon rains. Everybodywas simply delighted to be here: the graves surrounded by bright green grasslooked great..this site is one of the hidden beauties of Delhi. I was delighted to be surrounded by lot of photographers, who were part of our walk this time. From Nicholson’s to Kashmiri gate, as we moved across the road, it began drizzling.
We took shade under the Metro station and I tried filling the gap by explaining how Delhi was surrounded by the rebels in 1857. This walk covers some sites associated with some landmark events of 1857 rebellion. Continue Reading This Post

Exploring the Qutb with students of DPS Gurgaon, 27 July 2010

July 28, 2010 in Delhi Heritage Walks,DHW,Heritage Walks,Qutub Minar,Qutub Minar,Qutub Minar Heritage Walks | Comments (0)

It was a lovely morning when the students and teachers of Delhi Public School, Gurgaon joined us at the Qutb complex for a heritage walk. They were students of humanities from class 11 and 12 accompanied by their Principal, Ms Aditi Misra and two senior teachers, Ms Lisa and Ms Sapna Dhawan. There was slight drizzle and breeze which made it fun to walk around the monuments. There were 4 of us from Delhi Heritage Walks: Chhavi, Divya, Kanika and Vijaya to interact with the students.

The Qutb Minar needs little introduction, so we tried to discuss the lesser known details about the complex. What is today the entrance to the site is actually part of a serai dating to the late-Mughal time. Our first stop was the Quwwat ul Islam mosque, built from material taken from temples. Some of the students had visited an active mosque earlier, so they were familiar with Islamic religious practices; others were quick to note how the sculptures were disfigured. Continue Reading This Post


Confessions of a Dilli Walker

July 19, 2010 in Chandni Chowk,Chandni Chowk Heritage Walks,Delhi Heritage Walks,DHW,Heritage Walks,Old Delhi | Comments (1)

It was a cloudy Sunday morning when I woke up just in time for my heritage walk. I had been very excited for a couple of days now, as this was going to be my 1st walk as a leader. Confidence remained intact, partly being a Historian n partly because I BELONGED TO Place we were going to visit or say Chandni Chock resides in ME…

More or else everybody reached on time and met on the very first stop-Digambar Jain Lal temple. We have 8-9 stops in the Chandni Chowk heritage walk n I had to be thorough with each; its history and much more as one always expects intellectuals, educators, foreign delegates, inquisitive students ranging from class 5th to university level to join us .Being a leader it becomes my utmost duty to be prompt to every question coming my way. Continue Reading This Post


Exploring monuments in Hauz Khas, 17 July 2010

in Deer Park,Delhi Heritage Walks,DHW,hauz Khas,Hauz Khas Heritage Walks,Heritage Walks | Comments (0)

Hauz Khas is one of the historic villages in Delhi region. And it has one of the most interesting monument complexes existing in India: the madrasa built by Firuz Shah Tughluq. ‘Hauz’ is a tank & ‘Khas’ is special or important. The name ‘Hauz Khas’ comes from the fact there existed a tank built by a king called Alauddin Khalji. The tank was originally named ‘Hauz i Alai’ after Alauddin Khalji, but later began to be called Hauz Khas. The tank still exists but in a much altered form. It now has a popular district park around it.

We started the heritage walk from the Kunzum travel café in Hauz Khas village. The monuments are located a few meters away. The madrasa is a large L-shaped building built along the tank. Once the water from the tank would have lapped at its walls; now the tank is much smaller. In fact, the Persian invader Timur, when he camped here before fighting the Delhi sultan, describes each side of the tank being more than a bow-shot long! The double storeyed madrasa is mostly in ruins now but one can imagine that it must have been a grand place. Contemporary accounts are full of praise for this complex. Continue Reading This Post