Leading the walk on 15th August…our Independence Day made this walk very special for me and started the walk by wishing all Happy Independence Day….this group of heritage enthusiasts also had a young boy studying in 3rd standard… the heritage walk at Mehrauli Archaelogical Park shall always be my favorite walk..as the place has some very interesting monuments of various dynasties… Situated on the Aravalli’s oldest fold mountains is perhaps earliest inhabited urban area of Delhi…we first walked to an from an arched gate that leads to Balbans tomb, it is here that ASI carried out some excavation work in summer of 2009 and found some rooms, graves which seems to be part of the larger residential complex…. ( well ASI is doing a great job of restoration and excavation work). Next to it is Balban’s tomb, it’s importance lies in the fact that use of true arches in indian architecture begins from here. Adjacent to Balban’s tomb is Khan Shaheed’s grave, son of Balban who died fighting the Mongols in 1285 AD, there is little floral designs on plaster and little bit of blue tile on one of the walls from it we can visualise how magnificient it would have been at the time of it’s constuction. In the same complex we walked through some 16th-17th century ruins,probably residential complex..

Entire group was very impressed by next structure on the route… Jamali Kamali Mosque… it’s a fine example of Indo-Islamic architeture… built by Jamali in 1535, a sufi saint and poet who lived in the court of Sikander Lodhi. On the northern side of the mosque is tomb of Jamali-Kamali… it is an impressively decorated structure with a flat roof (very unusual for the period it was built in). Inside, the decorations in the tomb are described as “stepping into a jewel box”.

As we walked through a carriageway built by Thomas Metcalfe, (just before that is Metcalfe’s folly… built in 19th cent. and given the look of having been built in 13th cen..) and we reached the Lodhi pd. dovecot which was converted into a boat house by Thomas Metcalfe… in the complex is Dilkhusha, which was originally Mohammed Quli Khan’s tomb, a noble in Akbar’s court… again modified into residence by Metcalfe….standing at Dilkhusha one got an excellent view of Qutb Minar.. a world heritage site and Adham khan’s tomb, brother of Quli Khan… also a noble in Akbar’s court…