Here are some of the photographs of a heritage walk in hauz khas and deer park. The walk covered the madrasa complex around the 14th century hauz (tank), Firuz Shah Tughlaq’s tomb, Lodi period tomb & mosque in Deer Park. Towards the end of the heritage walk we walked down to the tank, which offers a stunning view of the madrasa.

(posted by Rajesh Ranjan & Kanika Singh, team members, Delhi Heritage Walks)

Hauz Khas Heritage Walk

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)

Lodi Garden Heritage Walk

It’s foggy & very cold but no let up on the traffic in old Delhi. We started the walk amidst blaring of horns and shouts of everybody who happened to be on the street. The Red Fort was only an outline in the winter fog. The Digamber Jain Lal mandir, which happens to be the oldest Jain temple in old Delhi & Gauri Shankar temple were to our left. Across the road as the shops selling flowers & other offering made to the temple including dhatura (a poisonous weed). This entire area right up to where the SBI building on Chandni Chowk is was the estate of Began Sumroo. It is now known by the name of Bhagirath place is one of the largest markets of duplicate electric goods. Continue Reading This Post

The advantage of starting early was that the Red Fort complex was not crowded. Otherwise on holidays and in evenings one always sees a huge rush…this is a prime tourist destination after all. One enters from the Lahori gate. The shops in Chhatta Chowk weren’t open yet. There are some beautiful murals in the music gallery (Naubat Khana), unfortunately, they are badly deteriorated. One can see the different layers of paint on the wall done over several years. The Naubat Khana now has the Indian War Memorial Museum. The Diwan i Aam or Hall of public audience was our next stop. It is an extremely elegant sandstone building. This is the place where Shahjahan held court daily. The marble throne canopy with its delicate inlay work is awesome! The riverside pavilions are few of the private palaces of the royal family that still exist. The Mughal buildings we see in Red Fort today are only about 20% of all that existed originally. Continue Reading This Post