Yet another foggy December morning and 12 of us assembled outside Nicholson’s cemetery to take a heritage walk down the memory lane! Nicholson was strong a British general, considered a demi-God by his Pathani and Punjabi soldiers. At the same time he has a reputation of being rude & arrogant towards the Indians. The cemetery gets its name from Nicholson, who is buried here. All around there are other small and beautifully carved sandstone and marble graves dating to the 19^th century. Our next stop on this walk is the Kashmiri gate; one of the remaining gates of the walled city of Delhi! Once on its rooftop one can see the cross of St. James’ Church and if living back in 1857 one could imagine – watching the British troops coming down from the ridge to the north of walled city! In the neighbourhood is the Lal Masjid built from the red sand stone on the upper storey of a local market built by Lala Sultan Singh. Lal masjid or Fakhr-ul-masajid was built by Begum Fatima in memory of her husband Shujaat Khan in 1729. The old Hindu College and the old St. Stephen’s buildings which came up here are now being use for MCD and Election Commission’s offices! St. James’ Church is clearly the most striking building around the neighbourhood of Kashmiri gate. Continue Reading This Post

(pics by Vinay Kumar, a regular at our heritage walks)

This year’s Christmas was unusual for Lodi Garden, it being packed with people. The weather was excellent, and the entire population of Delhi seemed to have come out to picnic at Lodi Garden! For a change, we weren’t the only ones exploring the ruins. Our joy in walking around these ruins was shared by children, screaming on top of their lungs and playing around these medieval tombs! Muhammad Shah Sayyid’s tomb was the first stop on our heritage walk. The tomb stands out an object of beauty among the tree lined lawn. This tomb has recently undergone conservation. From here it is a short walk to the butterfly conservatory and the Bada Gumbad complex in the centre of Lodi Garden. The mosque here is one of the most beautiful specimens of plaster decoration, in Delhi. There are intricate arabesque patterns and calligraphy all over the interiors. Opposite to it stands the Shish Gumbad, with prominent blue tiles. The next stop on this heritage trail was Sikander Lodi’s tomb, which resembles a mini-fortress. Perhaps, appropriate for a sultan, whose name is Arabic for ‘Alexander’! Besides the Lodi tombs in this park there are a few Mughal monuments as well. Continue Reading This Post