Today’s weather was perfect…bright, breezy and pleasantly cool. 18 heritage enthusiasts joined me along with Kanika Singh and Rajesh Ranjan for the heritage walk in Mehrauli Archaeological Park. Situated on the Aravallis, this is perhaps earliest inhabited area of Delhi. This heritage trail is vast and very interesting: it covers monuments and structures from 13th century to 19th century. We started our walk from an arched gate that leads to Balban’s 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..today again we saw labour working on the site…let us see what more may come out of it. Adjacent to Balban’s tomb is Khan Shaheed’s grave, son of Balban who died fighting the Mongols in 1285A.D. This chamber has some some remains of floral designs on plaster and little bit of blue tile on one of the walls. We can visualise how magnificent it would have been at the time of its construction. Continue Reading This Post

We covered 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) and the second was built in 18^th century. Next stop was SBI building which has recently undergone restoration. This entire area would originally have been Begam Samroo’s estate. It is now called Bhagirath Place & is a very large market for electronic goods. Close by is the Central Baptist Church built just after 1857 uprising. On the opposite side are the famous jalebiwala and Dariba Kalan, the street known for its silver jewellery. Next was Sisganj gurudwara, the fountain chowk and Sunheri masjid. The fountain & sisganj gurudwara mark the place of martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur & 3 of his followers. Continue Reading This Post

Pictures of heritage walk in old Delhi: Jama Masjid, Gali Guliyan, havelis in Katra Khushal Rai, Digambar Jain Naya Mandir, haveli where St. Stephen’s college began (Sheesh Mahal), Kinari Bazaar, Naughara & Parathewali gali. The landmarks were explained by Priya Gangadharan & Kanika Singh.

(posted by Rajesh Ranjan, team member, Delhi Heritage Walks)

Jama Masjid and Lanes of Old Delhi Heritage Walk

Today was indeed the foggiest day of the year and special as this was my first walk as Walk Leader .Seven bravehearts, truly heritage enthusiasts joined me along with kanika for the walk.

Mehrauli Archaeological Park is situated on the Aravalli’s and is also oldest inhabited area of delhi.This walk is quite interesting as it covers mouments and structures from 13th century A.D. to 19th century A.D.

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…this is were we started todays walk( gives the impression that ASI is doing 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,for the first time true arch was used to cover square plan with a circular roof,a dome. Continue Reading This Post

This particular heritage walk was unusual. The audience was 9-10 year old kids who had come to Lodi Garden to celebrate their friend, Arhan Vohra’s birthday. Everyone had questions to ask even before the walk started; some had done their homework and collected information about the monuments they were to see. So they often ended up answering each others’ questions…each arguing to defend their own version of the story. Historically correct or not, these kids are rich with imagination. They could see secret passages in corners, palaces & courts in ruins, secret codes in calligraphy…imagination is indeed a wonderful gift. One hopes and wishes that this gift is not lost on their path to adulthood. Everyone admired the decoration in the mosque but was critical of the graffiti left on the walls engraved by lovers, perhaps seeking to immortalize their names. Such a sensibility is admirable. Everyone present promised never to deface monuments. The graves in Shish Gumbad were extremely fascinating: one had a garland around it, probably left by someone wishing to pay respect to the dead; there was a child’s grave too. Next was a story-weaving game based on the heritage walk. The sheer variety of themes woven by these youngsters & the characters they made up is incredible: Lodi kings, their courts, their dancing girls, wars, secret codes, detectives to crack the secret codes, armies, peace, even Gandhi, Sherlock Holmes and Albert Einstein!

(posted by Rajesh Ranjan & Kanika Singh, team members, Delhi Heritage Walks)

Lodi Garden Heritage Walk