(photos by Vinay Kumar of the heritage walk covering landmarks of 1857 uprising. He is a photography enthusiast and a regular at our walks)

Chandni Chowk or ‘moonlight square’ is the main thoroughfare in old Delhi. So much so, that the name is sometimes used synonymously with purani dilli or for the entire old city. The heritage walk in Chandni Chowk starts from the Digamber Jain Lal Mandir, the oldest Jain temple here. The shrine is contemporary to Shahjahan’s time but most of the temple building dates to mid-18^th century. Right next to it is the Gauri Shankar temple, which was a small shrine to start with, in the 18^th century, but now is one of the most prominent landmarks in the area. On the other side of the road are flower shops selling dhatura (a poisonous weed) and bel (fruit with a hard outer shell) which are especially offered to Lord Shiva. Continue Reading This Post

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 rebellion of 1857 is well known in Indian history. 1857 was the largest uprising anywhere against the British and Indians call it the first war of Independence, the Uprising or the simply the rebellion. For the other side, the British, it remains the Mutiny. After suppressing the rebellion, India was brought directly under the rule of the British Crown. Delhi was one of the biggest centers of the 1857 rebellion and our heritage walk in the northern ridge explores some of the sites where events of 1857 unfolded.

The first stop on our heritage trail is the Flagstaff tower. A look out space, it would have been one of the highest points on the ridge. This is where European men, women and children took shelter when they escaped the city of Shahjahanabad, away from the attacking rebels. They waited for help and when none came they moved further to Karnal. Now the area is surrounded by trees but photographs of 1858 show this land to be barren, with the Flagstaff tower standing lonely at this height. There was a photographer, Felice Beato who travelled around the country photographing the sites of the rebellion in the year 1858. His photos are a telling account of the situation then, and help us imagine it as we see those very sites today.

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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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