मेहरौली जिसने शुरुआती हिंदू राजाओं की राजधानी लालकोट को अपनी जमीन पर देखा, जिसने गुलामों के बादशाह बन जाने का अजूबा देखा और देखा सारी बादशाहत को खाक बराबर समझने वाले कुतुब साहब जैसे दरवेश को. मेहरौली जहां योगमाया के मंदिर तक हिंदू-मुसलमान दोनों की पहुंच है, जहां सेंट जॉन का चर्च अपने वास्‍तु में हिंदू और इस्‍लामी इमारतों का मिला जुला रूप है, जहां सिखों के प्रसिद्ध योद्धा बंदा सिंह बहादुर का शहीदी स्‍थल है, (more…)

Monuments of Jahanpanah never fails to amaze you, the site is full of wonder and mystery. The name Jahanpanah means ‘Refuge of the World’ & was used for the fourth fortified city of Delhi constructed by Mohammad bin Tughluq in the 14^th century. It is believed that his coming to throne was very dramatic and controversial after his father and founder of Tughluq dynasty, Ghiyasuddin Tughluq was killed by his own son. As per the plan, Mohd Tughluq linked the older cities, Lal Kot, the then Old Delhi and Siri of Alauddin Khalji, enclosed these cities and built his new city in the centre with his citadel, palace and a grand mosque at its heart. Today, one can see that the fortifications survive in a couple of places in south Delhi & the cluster of ruins in Sarvodaya Enclave is what is left of the citadel.  (more…)

The ruins of Jahanpanah are a curious lot. Not much survives of the famed capital city of Mohammad Tughluq. A cluster of buildings in south Delhi near Kalu Sarai, locally known as Vijay Mandal, are believed to be the remains of Jahanpanah. Our heritage walk in this complex explores the stories of this city of Delhi.  (more…)

One of the lesser known sites of Delhi, this 100 acres green land has 70 odd monuments scattered around. The reason why Mehrauli Archaeological Park fascinates history lovers is because of its wild, un-kept look interspersed with monuments dating back from the first fortified capital, Lal Kot up till British period. The first monument we covered on this heritage walk was built by one of the powerful ‘slave kings’, Sultan Balban. (more…)

This Sunday, a cloudy but pleasant winter morning, our heritage walk was organized at Mehrauli Archaeological Park.  The Park has around 70 odd monuments, scattered around one of the oldest inhabited areas of Delhi, Mehrauli.  History of Mehrauli is many layered & covers a long time span. It was first ruled by a couple of Rajput rulers in 11^th and 12^th centuries and towards the end of the 12^th century, these were defeated by Turks from central Asia. The victors set up a dynasty which came to be called ‘slave’ kings. And then this area saw settlements throughout the ‘medieval’ period of Indian history & is now an urban village. (more…)