Here are the pictures of the Saturday evening heritage walk in Lodi Garden. The walk covered Muhammad Sayydi’s tomb, the Bara Gumbad and mosque in the same complex, Shish gumbad, Sikander Lodi’s tomb, Athpula and late-Mughal garden pavilion and mosque.
(posted by Rajesh Ranjan & Kanika Singh, team members, Delhi Heritage Walks)
This particular heritage walk was unusual. The audience was 9-10 year old kids who had come to Lodi Garden to celebrate their friend, Arhan Vohra’s birthday. Everyone had questions to ask even before the walk started; some had done their homework and collected information about the monuments they were to see. So they often ended up answering each others’ questions…each arguing to defend their own version of the story. Historically correct or not, these kids are rich with imagination. They could see secret passages in corners, palaces & courts in ruins, secret codes in calligraphy…imagination is indeed a wonderful gift. One hopes and wishes that this gift is not lost on their path to adulthood. Everyone admired the decoration in the mosque but was critical of the graffiti left on the walls engraved by lovers, perhaps seeking to immortalize their names. Such a sensibility is admirable. Everyone present promised never to deface monuments. The graves in Shish Gumbad were extremely fascinating: one had a garland around it, probably left by someone wishing to pay respect to the dead; there was a child’s grave too. Next was a story-weaving game based on the heritage walk. The sheer variety of themes woven by these youngsters & the characters they made up is incredible: Lodi kings, their courts, their dancing girls, wars, secret codes, detectives to crack the secret codes, armies, peace, even Gandhi, Sherlock Holmes and Albert Einstein!
(posted by Rajesh Ranjan & Kanika Singh, team members, Delhi Heritage Walks)
We reached a little early and did some exploring of our own. Luckily we found the bonsai garden open. It is a neat little place. There is some information about the bonsai on panels at the entrance. Still, would be helpful if the displayed bonsai too had labels on them. Conservation work on Mohammad Shah’s tomb is over and it looks almost cute now that it is pink all over! One is so used to the ruins looking grey (which gives the impression of age) that the pink is rather hard to accept. But I guess cleaning work will give the plaster and the mortar a light colour. Also, it regains its grey look in a few weeks’ time. Same is the case at the Bara Gumbad. The mosque looked as lovely as ever except, that 2 of its domes were pink in colour & the 3rd was as black as soot. Almost like BEFORE & AFTER…in our advertisements! J We next looked at the Sish Gumbad and walked towards Sikandar Lodi’s tomb. We just managed to get in, as the guards were closing the gates to the tomb. (All ASI protected monuments open from sunrise to sunset). Continue Reading This Post
This walk was special: we had a family with two kids for company. The best part was the involvement of the kids…they tried to understand what they were looking at, had loads of questions about everything and also information & opinions to share with everyone else. In fact, the walk started with a rapid fire question round by the younger one, Sankalp. The fun was that the discussion was never limited to Lodi Garden or its monuments alone, but also soccer, butterflies, animation, movies, birds…..
The conservation work at Muhammad Shah’s tomb seems almost complete. They have started working on the other monuments in the park. We also managed to locate the butterfly conservatory…the interesting thing about this is that most people have read about it and are expect something totally different to what they see. The conservatory is a patch of land fenced off from people…Everyone thought it would be something more jazzy. A guest thought that it would be a covered space. Continue Reading This Post
The weather these days is excellent, neither too hot nor too cold and the evening of 24th was perfect to be walking around the Lodi Garden. The major buildings in this garden are from the Syed and Lodi period, with some Mughal structures. We entered from gate number one, taking the path straight ahead. Turning left from where the path ends, we walked towards Mohammad Shah’s tomb. The tomb is undergoing conservation work and was looking all pink!!!! (see picture). Guess, that’s what happens to recently conserved buildings! The landscaping of the park is well done, so the monuments are especially highlighted. The tomb on a raised mound and its surrounding area lined with pine trees looked lovely. We then walked back towards the Bara Gumbad. The mosque in the Bara Gumbad complex is exquisitely carved. We were in for extra entertainment, as a fashion shoot was underway at the mosque. We all forgot the heritage part for a moment and happily stared at the model who was dressed in a pink and purple western gown. Continue Reading This Post
