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

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

Archaeology, someone said, is the science of rubbish. The definition is true to the extent that a lot of archaeology is concerned with rescuing built heritage from being lost in the ever growing city. Mehrauli Archaeological Park is one of the few places in Delhi where in gets to see archaeological excavations at close quarters. The ongoing excavation near Balban’s tomb is an example. A couple of months back this patch was completely covered with soil and vegetation. Prominent structures were the gateway & Balban’s tomb. One could feel the elevation of the ground when walking through the gateway towards Balban’s tomb. Post-excavation the earth level is much lower and ruins of a settlement (in addition to existing ones) are visible.

For some reason, the Jamali mosque was closed this evening and the caretaker was nowhere to be found. Same is the case with Madhi masjid on Dara Bari road. Continue Reading This Post