Our walking tour in Lodi Garden covers monuments scattered around the park, spread over an area of 90 acres. The monuments date back to the 15^th century but the park is a colonial invention. It was designed in 1936. Once called Bagh-i- Jud, a royal burial ground was landscaped by British & named Lady Willingdon Park. The present name, Lodi garden was given post independence. Now, one of the favorite parks for joggers in south Delhi, the garden is a perfect amalgamation of our glorious past and present day Delhi. (more…)

The Mehrauli Archaeological Park is a part of the Aravallis bits of which is landscaped & maintained by Delhi Development Authority.  Mehrauli being the oldest continuously inhabited area of Delhi has a long and fascinating history. This is where the first cities of Delhi came up. There are remains of Rajputs’ cities to monuments built by Delhi Sultans & then the Mughals. British could resist the temptation of compete with the Sultans of Delhi either. (more…)

This walking tour combines some sites of historical interest with food stops. Our starting point was Jama Masjid, the main congregation mosque built by Emperor Shah Jahan & is still an active mosque. It is one of the biggest in South Asia, the other competing mosques being the Badshahi Masjid in Lahore & the Taj ul Masajid in Bhopal. However, much of the grandeur & beauty of the mosque is lost because of poor maintenance; (more…)

I would like to start off writing about this heritage walk with an anecdote about a family who were trying to reach the venue on the morning of the 10^th.  This couple & their girl of 10 years of age are regulars on our heritage walks. Their taxi driver stopped outside the Old Fort & told them that this is the only qila/old ruin around here, so this must be Kotla. The girl took one look at the walls of the old fort & promptly informed her family that this does not look like a Tughluq period building & they should keep looking for Kotla! (more…)

Here’s a brief overview of our heritage walk on 1857 revolt, which was organised this past Sunday. It is great pleasure to walk around the city on pleasant winter mornings and rains only add to this experience, I think. A group of enthusiasts joined us to explore the neighbourhood of Kashmiri Gate for landmarks of 1857. Our starting point was Nicholson’s Cemetery. The cemetery is located in an area which was the battle zone between rebels in Shajahanabad & the British on the Northern Ridge. (more…)