This Sunday morning was a spent rambling around the historic street of Chandni Chowk. Our heritage walks here focus on discovering discreet phenomenon which were responsible for shaping up this place the way we see it today. Shahjahanabad has seen affluence and as well as the crises of the Mughal Empire. Further, the creeping in of British influence is also evident in the Mughal capital city. (more…)
Last Sunday morning was an attempt to explore and discover Chandni Chowk neighborhood which has seen a history of more than three hundred years. We started our heritage trail at Digambar Jain Lal Mandir which is the oldest Jain temple of old Delhi. What is today old Delhi for us was Shahjahanabad, the capital established by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan & it remained the capital till 1857. (more…)
This walk covers sites associated with colonial life in 19th century Delhi & the rebellion of 1857. We start at Nicholson Cemetery, named after one of the most revered British heroes of the ‘mutiny’. Brigadier Gen. John Nicholson was fatally injured while storming the Lahori Gate of Shahjahanabad. All through the summer of 1857 the rebels were inside the walled city & the British has taken position on the Northern Ridge & there was bitter fighting between the two sides. For Delhi the battle was pretty much decided in the favour of the British after breaching the city walls. Nicholson Cemetery has graves of many Europeans & some Indians as well. (more…)
This heritage walk in old Delhi includes sampling some of the street food. We started our walking tour at one of the biggest and most popular mosques in Asia, Jama Masjid. It was built in mid-seventeenth century by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan. It is built on a hillock, high above rest of the ground & gives an excellent view of the surrounding busy market streets. The trail follows the main street of Chawri Bazaar. (more…)
This Sunday morning we marched out for a walking tour of the city of Shahjahanabad. The focus of the walk was the main street of Chandni Chowk, which runs perpendicular to the Red Fort. I started with a brief introduction about the history of what is today called old Delhi. The first landmarks of interest are two very old temples: the Digambar Jain Lal Mandir, the oldest Jain Temple of the city & adjacent to it was a Shaiva temple called Gauri Shankar Mandir. Braving the chaos and traffic we reached State Bank of India building which is built on the estate of Begam Samroo. (more…)
