This heritage walk explores the history of the city of Shahjahanabad, today, old Delhi or Purani Dilli. The trail focuses on the street of Chandni Chowk which was the main boulevard of the 17^th century city, and still remains so. Over a period of 400 years the city has seen many changes, but two events have most prominently shaped it: the suppression of the rebellion of 1857, and the Partition of 1947. Delhi was one of the major centres of the Revolt of 1857. The rebellion was crushed and the Mughal dynasty came to an end. India became a British colony. The British occupied the Red Fort and the city and large parts of the city were flattened. A clearing was created outside Red Fort to provide for firing range, in case of another rebellion; prominent public buildings like Fatehpuri Masjid were razed in this clearance of settlements; the Mughal buildings inside the Fort were pulled down and barracks for British soldiers created. The physical fabric of the city was drastically altered. 1947 saw a massive migration of people across the newly created border. A number of refugee colonies came up to settle the people displaced by Partition. Many of these were built on lands which were part of garden estates of the nobility in Shahjahanabad. Both 1857 & 1947 have had a tremendous impact on the life of the city and as it appears to us today. We also have to keep in mind that in old Delhi many site will have historical associations but the buildings identifying the sites could be fairly recent. This is because it is an area of continuous settlement; people who have lived here have built, repaired and rebuilt on older sites.

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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 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…)

Here are some photographs of our walking tour in old Delhi. This heritage walk is one of the most popular options in our list. This route covers the main street of Chandni Chowk starting at the Digamber Jain Lal Mandir, opposite Red Fort. Next is the Gauri Shankar Temple & the SBI building all of these being very prominent landmarks in old Delhi. A well known historic site is the fountain chowk with Sisganj Gurdwara, Sunheri Masjid, Ghantewala Shahi Halwai around it. It is just a few steps from Dariba Kalan with its jalebi shop at the corner. Central Baptist Church stands opp. Dariba Kalan. (more…)

Our heritage walk in old Delhi covers the main street of Chandni Chowk. Starting from outside the Red Fort we cover a distance of about 2 kms till the famous spice market in Khari Baoli. On the way are some well known & some not so well known landmarks which are of historical interest. In most cases, even though the landmarks are old, the buildings standing to commemorate them can be quite modern. (more…)