Our restlessness in your love has passed beyond bounds, our hope is that you will pity our weeping.

How could your pardon be known, had we not shown ourselves guilty!

These are verses penned by Jamali, a traveler and poet who lived in the 16^th century. Today his name lives on as an area in Mehrauli called ‘Jamali Kamali’ or the Mehrauli Archaeological Park. Our heritage walk in this park covers some very interesting landmarks of Indian history. We start our heritage trail near Balban’s tomb. The area around the tomb was recently excavated to reveal a courtyard and some rooms and grave platforms. A few months ago, the whole patch of land was covered in silt and vegetation and there was a only a narrow path among the vegetation, leading to Balban’s tomb. Continue Reading This Post

(pics by Chhavi Sharma & Ridhima Bahl, a regular at our heritage walks)

Doing what we’re passionate about and love the most comes with ease! Shahjahanabad is love and Delhi Heritage Walks a passion. 🙂

A cloudy day with waves of chilly wind and 12 of us gathered to take a walk on the historic lane of Chandni Chowk. Chandni Chowk was built as a main commercial lane after the establishment of Shahjahanabad city which is also known now as the walled city or purani Dilli/old Delhi

This beautiful city and its surroundings were destroyed more than once: in 1739 when Nadir Shah came, in 1857-Indians rebelled against the then British rising in power. The city hence developed socio-economically depending on political powers so was development seen in architecture. The Digamber Jain Lal Mandir and Gauri Shankar temple both came up while the Mughals were at the Red Fort, but the elaborate structures we see today are relatively recent phenomenon. Continue Reading This Post

Yet another foggy December morning and 12 of us assembled outside Nicholson’s cemetery to take a heritage walk down the memory lane! Nicholson was strong a British general, considered a demi-God by his Pathani and Punjabi soldiers. At the same time he has a reputation of being rude & arrogant towards the Indians. The cemetery gets its name from Nicholson, who is buried here. All around there are other small and beautifully carved sandstone and marble graves dating to the 19^th century. Our next stop on this walk is the Kashmiri gate; one of the remaining gates of the walled city of Delhi! Once on its rooftop one can see the cross of St. James’ Church and if living back in 1857 one could imagine – watching the British troops coming down from the ridge to the north of walled city! In the neighbourhood is the Lal Masjid built from the red sand stone on the upper storey of a local market built by Lala Sultan Singh. Lal masjid or Fakhr-ul-masajid was built by Begum Fatima in memory of her husband Shujaat Khan in 1729. The old Hindu College and the old St. Stephen’s buildings which came up here are now being use for MCD and Election Commission’s offices! St. James’ Church is clearly the most striking building around the neighbourhood of Kashmiri gate. Continue Reading This Post

(pics by Vinay Kumar, a regular at our heritage walks)

This year’s Christmas was unusual for Lodi Garden, it being packed with people. The weather was excellent, and the entire population of Delhi seemed to have come out to picnic at Lodi Garden! For a change, we weren’t the only ones exploring the ruins. Our joy in walking around these ruins was shared by children, screaming on top of their lungs and playing around these medieval tombs! Muhammad Shah Sayyid’s tomb was the first stop on our heritage walk. The tomb stands out an object of beauty among the tree lined lawn. This tomb has recently undergone conservation. From here it is a short walk to the butterfly conservatory and the Bada Gumbad complex in the centre of Lodi Garden. The mosque here is one of the most beautiful specimens of plaster decoration, in Delhi. There are intricate arabesque patterns and calligraphy all over the interiors. Opposite to it stands the Shish Gumbad, with prominent blue tiles. The next stop on this heritage trail was Sikander Lodi’s tomb, which resembles a mini-fortress. Perhaps, appropriate for a sultan, whose name is Arabic for ‘Alexander’! Besides the Lodi tombs in this park there are a few Mughal monuments as well. Continue Reading This Post