All of us know of the cricket stadium of Kotla Firuz Shah. Right behind the stadium is the ruined city of Kotla Firuz Shah, the complex which gives the stadium its name. The city was constructed by third Tughluq king, Firuz Shah Tughluq in the 14^th century. Our heritage walk to Kotla was organized on Sunday evening which saw a good number of devotees who were in the complex to pray to the djinns. The local tradition is that this is the abode of djinns. The city is believed to have extended from a hunting lodge called Kushak –i-Shikar (presently at Northern Ridge) to Hauz Khas (in south Delhi). The city continued to be inhabited till 18th century but was abandoned later because it had no wall to give protection against dacoits and looters. At present, there are only three prominent monuments which remain standing in the citadel area: Jama Masjid, the pyramidal building with Ashokan Pillar on it and a circular baoli.

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For good or bad, Qutb Minar has over shadowed the rest of Mehrauli. I can give you names of several monuments which are completely neglected and in the danger of completely disappearing under modern city; it is high time for us to give due to these forgotten monuments. Mehrauli village is a unique place with ancient buildings, medieval tombs, mosques, sufi shrines, palaces and havelis, sarais, reservoirs, step wells and tanks, you name it and it has it all. Our heritage walk this Sunday, covered a little bit of this vast area. We started our trail with Yogmaya temple. (more…)

मेहरौली जिसने शुरुआती हिंदू राजाओं की राजधानी लालकोट को अपनी जमीन पर देखा, जिसने गुलामों के बादशाह बन जाने का अजूबा देखा और देखा सारी बादशाहत को खाक बराबर समझने वाले कुतुब साहब जैसे दरवेश को. मेहरौली जहां योगमाया के मंदिर तक हिंदू-मुसलमान दोनों की पहुंच है, जहां सेंट जॉन का चर्च अपने वास्‍तु में हिंदू और इस्‍लामी इमारतों का मिला जुला रूप है, जहां सिखों के प्रसिद्ध योद्धा बंदा सिंह बहादुर का शहीदी स्‍थल है, (more…)

Here are the pictures from our new heritage walk at neighbourhood of Old Fort. The sites include Khair ul Manazil, Lal Darwaza, Bagh e Bedil & shrine of Shaikh Nuruddin Malik Yar Parran, Matka Pir & ending at Bhairon Mandir.  The walk was led by Kanika Singh & photos are by Moby Zachariah, both team members of Delhi Heritage Walks. Thanks all for joining us!