Archive for August, 2010
August 25, 2010 in Heritage Walks,Lodi Garden | Comments (3)
Pic by Rupa Gandhi, heritage walk enthusiast
August 23, 2010 in Delhi Heritage Walks,DHW,Heritage Walks,Lodi Garden,Lodi Garden Heritage Walks | Comments (0)
CWG and Delhi’s monsoon are not on friendly terms. The more the CWG curse the rains, the more it pours. For the locals though it is a blessing. The trees and the buildings and the air have a clean look. The grass looks green and the monuments very very clean. This was our first impression as we took a heritage walk in Lodi Garden. The garden is a creation of the British, when they were trying to incorporate Delhi’s ruins in their plans of building a new capital for themselves. They called it Lady Willingdon Park; Lodi Garden is a post-independence name. The first stop on our heritage walk was Muhammad Shah Sayyid’s tomb. There were very few people about because of the rain and as the picture above shows the monuments looked nice and clean. The light coloured stone of the tomb presented a beautiful contrast with the lush green grass. The trail then leads along the butterfly conservatory to the Bara Gumbad complex. Built in the 15th century, the Bada Gumbad probably acted as a gateway to the mosque, tomb and assembly hall to its north. Continue Reading This Post
in Deer Park,Delhi Heritage Walks,DHW,hauz Khas,Hauz Khas Heritage Walks,Heritage Walks | Comments (1)
The monuments in Hauz Khas are one of the most interesting sites in Delhi. Built around a reservoir the madrasa complex is impressive even as a ruin. Today’s heritage walk covered these monuments in Hauz Khas village and those in the Deer park. The Hauz Khas complex is in disarray these days because of undergoing conservation work. The complex is littered with stone chips, piles of cement & mounds of dug up earth. One hopes that this is wrapped up soon so that one can truly enjoy the scenery. The tank was originally constructed by Alauddin Khalji for his capital city, Siri. By the time Firuz Shah Tughluq assumed throne, the tank has silted up and people were cultivating on it. Contemporary accounts report that people has dug up private wells and were selling off water. Firuz Shah did what is he is best known for, restoration &repair of existing monuments and building water works for publics. He re-excavated the tank and built a madrasa along its edge. In the 14th century, this madrasa would have been one of the centres of excellence for Islamic learning. Continue Reading This Post
August 17, 2010 in Delhi Heritage Walks,DHW,Heritage Walks,Mehrauli Archaeological Park,Mehrauli Archaeological Park Heritage Walks | Comments (0)
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Leading the walk on 15th August…our Independence Day made this walk very special for me and started the walk by wishing all Happy Independence Day….this group of heritage enthusiasts also had a young boy studying in 3rd standard… the heritage walk at Mehrauli Archaelogical Park shall always be my favorite walk..as the place has some very interesting monuments of various dynasties… Situated on the Aravalli’s oldest fold mountains is perhaps earliest inhabited urban area of Delhi…we first walked to an from an arched gate that leads to Balbans tomb, it is here that ASI carried out some excavation work in summer of 2009 and found some rooms, graves which seems to be part of the larger residential complex…. ( well ASI is doing a great job of restoration and excavation work). Next to it is Balban’s tomb, it’s importance lies in the fact that use of true arches in indian architecture begins from here.
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