Walking through Lodi Garden is always a pleasant experience and this Saturday, a small group of enthusiasts undertook a heritage walk in this park. The beauty of the garden is enhanced by the imposing monuments in a pleasant winter afternoon. The name ‘Lodi Garden’ is due to the fact that the most prominent of these monuments were built during the times of the Lodi Sultans. The garden is in fact a creation of the British, when they were building their new capital of Delhi. It was originally called Lady Willingdon Park. Its current name was given post Independence when it was re-landscaped under Joseph Allen Stein. Stein also designed some of the important buildings in the neighbourhood: the IIC, the Ford Foundation are the most well known.

If one enters from gate no. 1 of the Garden, one can see a tall imposing building straight ahead. We took a detour towards the left and began our heritage trial from Muhammad Shah Sayyid’s tomb. This is a royal tomb dated to mid 15^th century. Continue Reading This Post

Our restlessness in your love has passed beyond bounds, our hope is that you will pity our weeping.

How could your pardon be known, had we not shown ourselves guilty!

These are verses penned by Jamali, a traveler and poet who lived in the 16^th century. Today his name lives on as an area in Mehrauli called ‘Jamali Kamali’ or the Mehrauli Archaeological Park. Our heritage walk in this park covers some very interesting landmarks of Indian history. We start our heritage trail near Balban’s tomb. The area around the tomb was recently excavated to reveal a courtyard and some rooms and grave platforms. A few months ago, the whole patch of land was covered in silt and vegetation and there was a only a narrow path among the vegetation, leading to Balban’s tomb. Continue Reading This Post

The ruins in Hauz Khas village are among the most fascinating in Delhi. The neighbourhood gets its name from the reservoir, ‘hauz i alai’ built by Sultan Alauddin Khalji in early 14^th century, for his capital city of Siri. About 50 year after Khalji, Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq restored the silted up tank, built a madrasa along its edge and called it the ‘hauz khas’. The massive madrasa complex along the lake was among the most important in the Islamic world in the 14^th century. A contemporary poet wrote in its praise:

The courtyard was soul-animating, and its expanse was life-giving. Its dusk was musk-scented, and its fragrance possessed the odour of amber…Nightingales, so to say, were singing their melodious songs everywhere. It appeared, as if they had guitars in their talons and flutes in their beaks.

Today, the view is equally grand. Continue Reading This Post

With a good monsoon this year, the weather is excellent these days and a heritage walk in Lodi Garden is always a treat for the senses. The monuments, the trees and the birds… & one can add people, if one likes observing them exercise, talk & socialize. Our heritage walk started at gate no. 1 on Lodi Road. Right ahead is the imposing Bada Gumbad. But, our first stop is a royal tomb a little ahead on the left: Muhammad Shah Sayyid’s tomb. The Sayyids are not very prominent in out political history. Very few people have even heard of them. Delhi, in fact, has two prominent tombs belonging to Sayyid dynasty. The neighbourhood of Kotla Mubarakpur near South Extension is named after and houses the tomb of Mubarak Shah Sayyid. The tomb in Lodi Garden is that of his successor. Close to Muhammad Shah’s tomb is Lodi Garden’s tallest tree, called Buddha’s coconut. It is native to rainforests in north east & south India. Our walking trail meanders through the well laid out tracks in the garden. On both sides on can see grave platforms which are almost totally covered by vegetation now. Continue Reading This Post

This year’s ample monsoon has added a new element of joy to our heritage walks. It is a treat to walk around imposing ruins of medieval cities, lush green parks dotted with peacocks, pleasant breeze and soft drizzle adding to the charm. This is how one would sum up this heritage walk at Hauz Khas village and Deer Park. The monuments in Hauz Khas are one of the most impressive in Delhi. The reservoir, Hauz I Alai was built by Alauddin Khalji for his capital city of Siri. A few decades later, Firuz Shah Tughluq found it ‘encroached upon’. The tank was silted up and people were selling of water from wells dug for their own private use. Firuz Shah has decided to fill it with water again, called it the Hauz Khas and built a madrasa along its edge. His own tomb stands at the junction of the two wings of the madrasa. In the 14^th century, the madrasa was one of the most prominent centers of learning in the Islamic East. Timur who camped here during his invasion in Delhi, was impressed by the scale and grandeur of the madarsa. Today, what we see is the bare structure which has survived over centuries. It is impressive none the less. Continue Reading This Post