A heritage walk in old Delhi evokes all kinds of response one can think of: nostalgia for lost glory; hunger for authentic food; and wonder at the systematic chaos that is the old city, sometimes combined with a feeling of impending doom! Our heritage trail this Sunday morning walk was a mixture of all of this. We start our walking tour at Digamber Jain Lal Mandir, the one famous for its bird hospital. With Red Fort forming the backdrop, we follow the main street of Chandni Chowk right up to the Sisganj gurudwara. On the way is Gauri Shankar temple, SBI buiding, Dariba Kalan and its famous jalebi shop, Central Baptish Church. The fountain chowk where Sisganj stands has much more to it: it marks the spot where Guru Teg Bahadur’s followers were tortured and killed and there is a museum dedicated to their memory. The chowk also has the Sunehri Masjid where the notorious raider Nadir Shah stood to watch the massacre of citizens of Delhi. The Ghantewala Shahi halwai was originally located at the chowk. We leave the main street at Parathewali Gali and entre the lane famous for its shops selling stuffed fried bread (parathas). Continue Reading This Post

A heritage walk in old Delhi is always exciting: the noise, the colourful sights & the delicious smells of food being prepared, adding to the general enthusiasm of visitors & locals alike. This Sunday, seemed a little less crowded than usual. Of course the shrines like the Digamber Jain Lal Mandir, the Sish ganj gurudwara and Gauri Shankar temple were bustling with activity. In contrast, the Fatehpuri Masjid at the end of Chandni Chowk is remarkably peaceful. We started our heritage walk at Digamber Jain Lal Mandir. This walk covers interesting points along the main street of old Delhi, the Chandni Chowk. A few places where we venture into a narrow lanes of the city: the Parathewali Gali, the Moti Bazaar, Katra Neel and perhaps the highlight of the walk, the spice market. On the way are the some of the most famous stalls of street food in old Delhi: well known shops like Ghantewala, Tiwari Brothers, Paratha shops, Chaina Ram, Old & Famous Jalebiwala and smaller but equally well known players like kulfiwala at Nai Sarak, Natraj for their dahi bhalle, faluda at Fatehpuri and many more. There are a few specialized bazaars on the old Delhi trail: Continue Reading This Post

Delhi’s summer heat was no deterrent for a group 20 –odd enthusiasts who turned up this morning for a heritage walk in old Delhi. This heritage walk covers the main street of Chandni Chowk. The first stop was the Digamber Jain Lal Mandir, the oldest Jain temple in Shahjahanabad. It is now a prominent structure in the city’s landscape with towering red sandstone shikhars & the shrine is as old as the city itself. The temple is also unique for housing a charitable bird hospital in its premises. Both kite flying & kabutarbaazi are popular pastimes for old Delhi citizens and a lot of birds end up getting injured from the glass-coated strings attached to the kites. Adjacent to the Jain temple is the Gauri Shankar temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Across the street from this temple is a flower market which among other offerings stocks the dhatura (a poisonous weed) offered to Shiva. Continue Reading This Post

What we call purani dilli or old Delhi today was the capital city of Shajahanabad in the middle of 17^th century. The Mughal Emperor built the Red Fort as his palace complex and the city as his capital. For them, the Mehrauli area would have been ‘old Delhi’. This heritage walk starts from the Digambar Jain Lal Mandir, opposite Red Fort. It is the oldest Jain temple in the city and a charitable bird hospital functions in its premises. The shrine is contemporary to Shahjahan’s time but the building we see now is mostly from middle of 19^th century. Adjacent to it is the Gauri Shankar temple, a large white building. It is an early 18^th century temple built by a Maratha nobleman. Walking along the Chandni Chowk we passed the State Bank of India building, one of the better surviving colonial buildings and the Central Baptish Church, a church built just after 1857. This entire stretch would have been the estate of a lady popularly known as Begum Samroo. She is one of the characters in Indian history who have many romantic or otherwise stories associated with her. Continue Reading This Post