The crowds at Chandni Chowk are an amazing sight, even on a Sunday morning when the market is officially closed. We were overwhelmed by the hustle-bustle of the people and traffic. From Digambar Jain Lal Mandir till Gurudwara Sisganj there were cars lined all along the road-of devotees to the Jain Mandir, Gauri Shankar temple, Central Baptist Church and Sisganj Gurdwara. Friends who visit the area are often surprised to find places of worship of all faiths so close to each other. But perhaps it is not such an unusual thing in the closely knit urban population as in our Purani Dilli. The walk covered the main street of Chandni Chowk and along with the important historical landmarks an added attraction was the food available all along. The permanent shops like Dariba’s jalebiwala, Haldiram’s and paratha shops in Parathewali gali and Chaina Ram’s had started the day’s preparations. Small hawkers selling treats like Daulat ki chaat, kulchas and chholas and freshly prepared kachoris. We managed a dona (a cupful) of daulat ki chaat on the way to Fatehpuri. A heritage walk at Chandni Chowk is the best place to work up an appetite. A small detour took us to Katra Neel and we immediately felt transported to a different world. It was extremely quite compared to the main street. So was the case with Fatehpuri Masjid. The walk ended at Ghalib’s haveli in Ballimaran. And perhaps most appropriately, the Ghalib memorial had information on his favourite dishes. Reading about the meat, curries and naans sparked off a discussion on parathas, leading to a debate on merits of rabri paratha. One group insisted that rabri is rabri and paratha is of course paratha and the two are different genres of food. The more adventurous tried to inspire the rest to experiment with food. The debate was settled, as always, by a unanimous decision to partake a meal of parathas. 🙂

(posted by Kanika Singh & Rajesh Ranjan, team members, Delhi Heritage Walks)

Chandni Chowk Heritage Walk