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

When we think of old Delhi, there are many cliches about its character. We like our old cities to look a certain way: the chaos, the crowd, the noise, and yet the seeming ease with which every thing operates. Yes, on the surface perhaps all old cities are like that, and our purani dilli is no different. Yet, there is more to these that catches the eye. Cities, even historic ones, change rapidly, and often these changes come and go without us noticing them. This heritage walk to the old city tries to capture a little bit of all of this: the life of the city, what is typical and what lies beneath the typical.

We start our heritage walk just outside the Red Fort. The fort was the palace complex of Shahjahan, and what is today the purani dilli for us, was Shahjahanabad, the capital city of the Mughals in the 17th century. As we step into Chandni Chowk, we are greeted by two monumental temples, the Digamber Jain Lal Mandir in red sandstone and the Gauri Shankar temple in white. There is a small flower market right across the road which caters to the devotees who come in and pray. This entire land was once the estate of Begam Samru. Orignially a dancing girl from Kashmir she went on to marry a European, Walter Reinhard and covnverted to Christianity. She is particularly known for establishing the church at Sardana, near Meerut. Today whatever little of her mansion remains, has become part of Lala Bhagirath market. Continue Reading This Post

This year began with a pleasant heritage walk at the Lodi Garden. When the British decided to build a new capital at Delhi, the Lodi tombs at the village of Khairpur became part of the New Delhi area. This is when a garden was planned around these tombs and the Lady Willingdon Park was created. Lodi Garden is a post-Independence name. The village was removed and the garden was landscaped in such a way that the monuments stood out as singular objects of beauty. The first stop on our heritage walk was the tomb of Sayyid ruler Mohammad Shah. This tomb is similar to his predecessor’s tomb in Kotla Mubarakpur & Isa Khan’s tomb in Humayun’s tomb complex. An octagonal building with three arched openings on each side, with sloping buttresses at each corner. The interior is decorated with incised plaster work which depicts calligraphy and arabesque. Right next to the tomb is ‘Buddha’s Coconut’ the tallest tree in the Lodi Garden which is a native of rain forests in north east & south India. It is also a favoured roost with the vultures.

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There are many a legends about the city of Tughluqabad and the Sultans after whom it is named. As one approaches the fort, our first impressions are of colossal grandeur! The fort’s boundary walls carry on a great distance along Mehrauli Badarpur Road; they are about 4 miles in perimeter & its massive bastions looking formidable. Our heritage walk in Tughluqabad was almost a small trek with a dash of adventure. Many parts of Tughluqabad fort are completely ruined and covered with their own rubble & vegetation and our heritage walk explored the hidden features like the underground granaries, the palace area to the north and the royal escape route built into the fort wall!

The ruins of Tughluqabad are frozen in time. The city was abandoned shortly after it was built, after which there was no substantial settlement here, except a small one in the late Mughal period. Continue Reading This Post

It is a truism that the city never sleeps. Yet this restless, constant activity is what always amazes us. This was my first thought as we gathered for a heritage walk in old Delhi this Sunday morning. Old Delhi is known for many things: the grandeur of the Mughals, the street food, the bazaars, its havelis and we hoped to capture a little bit of all of this as we rambled through its streets.

Our walk starts at Digamber Jain Lal Mandir, the oldest Jain temple here, and well known for its charitable bird hospital. Next to it is the Gauri Shankar temple, built by a Maratha nobleman. We walked on the main street of Chandni Chowk till the fountain. This roundabout is surrounded by historical landmarks. Continue Reading This Post