This Sunday morning we marched out for a walking tour of the city of Shahjahanabad. The focus of the walk was the main street of Chandni Chowk, which runs perpendicular to the Red Fort. I started with a brief introduction about the history of what is today called old Delhi. The first landmarks of interest are two very old temples: the Digambar Jain Lal Mandir, the oldest Jain Temple of the city & adjacent to it was a Shaiva temple called Gauri Shankar Mandir. Braving the chaos and traffic we reached State Bank of India building which is built on the estate of Begam Samroo. (more…)

This heritage walk in old Delhi covers the main street of Chandni Chowk, from Digambar Jain Lal Mandir opposite Red Fort right up till the Fatehpuri area. The Jain temple and Gauri Shankar temple are the two most important temples in old Delhi. Their shikhars are most prominently visible from a distance. The first one is contemporary to Shah Jahan’s time (mid 17^th century) & is known for a bird hospital in its premises and the second was built in 18^th century. It was in news recently as President Pratibha Patil visited the temple to offer prayers. (more…)

The crowds at Chandni Chowk are an amazing sight, even on a Sunday morning when the market is officially closed. From Digambar Jain Lal Mandir (of the well known bird hospital) till Gurudwara Sisganj there were cars lined all along the road-of devotees to the Jain Mandir, Gauri Shankar temple, Central Baptist Church and Sisganj Gurdwara. Friends who visit the area are often surprised to find places of worship of all faiths so close to each other. But perhaps it is not such an unusual thing in the closely knit urban population as in our Purani Dilli. Continue Reading This Post

The Chandni Chowk heritage walk was unusual this weekend…due to Independence day security measures the previous week, we held the walk in the following weekend, an in evening. We were always apprehensive of the notorious crowds and chaos of the bazaar!!!!!!!…still went ahead taking it as a challenge and also, to savour old Delhi in it’s true colors.

The city of Shahjahanabad was built in mid 17th century with Red fort as the king’s palace and Chandni Chowk laid specially for Shah Jahan’s daughter, Jahanara, who was very fond of jewellery! There were also gardens laid in her name in the centre of baazar where currently the Town Hall and Old Delhi Railway Station stand…It’s the month of Ramzan, and we were close to the time of iftaar as we passed by several food shops filled with people… Parathewali gali, pakoras all along the way, sweets of shapes and sizes, dates…

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Chandni chowk, is like a second home to me. Yet every time one visits the old city there’s a freshness to it. 29^th was last of the Sundays’ that August could offer to us and it was like cherry on the cake when it’s designed for a visit to Chandni Chowk. A bunch of 11 people, some our regulars, others new, looked get-set-go for the walk. Walk started with Digambar Jain Lal Mandir followed by Gauri Shankar temple. Being a bunch of enthusiasts everyone wished to visit inside each of these places. However in a 2 hrs heritage walk it becomes difficult to do so. Still there were quite a few places we managed to explore. I tried to give maximum facts and details about the same. The group already looked very keen to know more as a lot of questions were being asked about the history of these landmarks.

This time, I decided to also focus on by-lanes of Chandni Chowk by by discussing various wholesale markets one can visit to on weekdays including for bicycles, electronics, spectacles, camera, saris etc. Continue Reading This Post