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…)

Delhi was pleasantly surprised by showers for a couple of days and we decided to carry on with our heritage walk at Lodi Garden since it is a comfortable terrain to walk in all seasons. The park has well laid out pavements all through our heritage trail. And we happened to be the only ones in the park, which is an unusual sight. The park is always full of people, joggers, people reading, children playing, lovers spending a quite time here.  ‘Lodi Garden’ happens to be a modern, post-independence name. (more…)

Tughluqabad is one of the most popular heritage trails on our calendar & we conducted it twice this winter on popular demand. The massive fortifications of the city of Tughluqabad are visible from the Mehrauli Badarpur Road, but nothing prepares you for the sight inside. The Tughluqs built like giants-& this is evident in the remains of this city. As far as the eye goes, it is a landscape of bare, (more…)