(Nirmal Dayani is a regular at Delhi Heritage Walks)

Heritage walk in Mehrauli village, 27 May 2012

The neighbourhood of Mehrauli in south of Delhi is the oldest inhabited part of the Delhi region. Actually, oldest inhabited in terms of urban settlements. This is where the first cities of Delhi came up. Even when the capital shifted closer to the river, Mehrauli area was never abandoned. As a result one gets a continuous settlement for almost 1000 years back in history. A fact, which makes Mehrauli virtually a goldmine for a historian or an archaeologist. Continue Reading This Post

Our team at Delhi Heritage Walks had an opportunity to interact with students of St. Thomas School, Sahibabad and take them on a heritage walk at Mehrauli Archaeological Park. It was the last working day for them and they were all excited to explore! These were class X students and it was their first heritage walk. All were locals to Sahibabad but were well familiar with Delhi, its main historic site like the Qutb complex, the Red Fort & the Lotus Temple. Continue Reading This Post

The Mehrauli Archaeological Park reflects the changing colours of season. The time around the bougainvillea was in full bloom and lent a splash of bright colour on a landscape which is almost wild. Our heritage walk started from the clearing near the entrance. This patch was recently the site of archaeological excavations. The stone floor, foundations of rooms, graves were some of the things which were revealed. There were many surface finds too: shards of pottery, a clay horse, part of a cheelum (smoking pipe) with soot stuck to it still! Balban’s tomb stands right ahead, one of the most important buildings in India, architecturally speaking. Continue Reading This Post

A large part of our city’s monumental heritage is invisible…hidden behind massive malls, residential colonies. This is the first realization to strike anyone who begins exploring Mehrauli Archaeological Park. Our first thought is ‘we have driven past this road a hundred times, but never realized all this lay behind it!’ Our heritage walk in Mehrauli weaves its way through some of the most interesting monuments in Delhi. Mehrauli being the area where the first cities of Delhi came up: the Tomars, the Chauhans, the Turkish slaves had their capitals here; the Lal Kot, Qila Rai Pithora and the Qutb area. Even when the capital shifted this area continued to be settled. So today we find remains from different time periods in this region. Our first stop is a clearing which was created by archaeological work here, about a year ago. It revealed a stone floor, some foundations, rooms, graves. Continue Reading This Post