A heritage walk in old Delhi evokes all kinds of response one can think of: nostalgia for lost glory; hunger for authentic food; and wonder at the systematic chaos that is the old city, sometimes combined with a feeling of impending doom! Our heritage trail this Sunday morning walk was a mixture of all of this. We start our walking tour at Digamber Jain Lal Mandir, the one famous for its bird hospital. With Red Fort forming the backdrop, we follow the main street of Chandni Chowk right up to the Sisganj gurudwara. On the way is Gauri Shankar temple, SBI buiding, Dariba Kalan and its famous jalebi shop, Central Baptish Church. The fountain chowk where Sisganj stands has much more to it: it marks the spot where Guru Teg Bahadur’s followers were tortured and killed and there is a museum dedicated to their memory. The chowk also has the Sunehri Masjid where the notorious raider Nadir Shah stood to watch the massacre of citizens of Delhi. The Ghantewala Shahi halwai was originally located at the chowk. We leave the main street at Parathewali Gali and entre the lane famous for its shops selling stuffed fried bread (parathas). Continue Reading This Post

Today’s weather was perfect…bright, breezy and pleasantly cool. 18 heritage enthusiasts joined me along with Kanika Singh and Rajesh Ranjan for the heritage walk in Mehrauli Archaeological Park. Situated on the Aravallis, this is perhaps earliest inhabited area of Delhi. This heritage trail is vast and very interesting: it covers monuments and structures from 13th century to 19th century. We started our walk from an arched gate that leads to Balban’s tomb. It is here that 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..today again we saw labour working on the site…let us see what more may come out of it. Adjacent to Balban’s tomb is Khan Shaheed’s grave, son of Balban who died fighting the Mongols in 1285A.D. This chamber has some some remains of floral designs on plaster and little bit of blue tile on one of the walls. We can visualise how magnificent it would have been at the time of its construction. Continue Reading This Post

Here are some of the photographs of a heritage walk in hauz khas and deer park. The walk covered the madrasa complex around the 14th century hauz (tank), Firuz Shah Tughlaq’s tomb, Lodi period tomb & mosque in Deer Park. Towards the end of the heritage walk we walked down to the tank, which offers a stunning view of the madrasa.

(posted by Rajesh Ranjan & Kanika Singh, team members, Delhi Heritage Walks)

Hauz Khas Heritage Walk

We started the walk at Jama Masjid. It is one of the most impressive monuments in Delhi. And is one of the largest mosques in Asia. The view from the minaret was hampered by the morning fog. We could only see parts of old Delhi, rest of the area including Red Fort and beyond was not visible. Priya Gangadharan, the walk leader explained the history of the area and its immense heritage. The group made their way into the narrow kuchas and katras of Shajahanabad, starting with Gali Guliyan, which specializes in brass & copper antiques. The lane leads to Kucha Hamid, where one of the master builders of Shahjahanabad lived. Digambar Jain Naya Mandir was the next stop. Throughout, we could see finely decorated gateways of havelis, especially in Katra Khushal Rai. Naughara in Kinari Bazar with its Jain temple is one of the better preserved residential areas. It has nine houses in a lane, hence the name. The Kinari bazaar was simple bustling with activity. It is amazing for the visitors to see men, vehicles, and beasts all negotiating the narrow lanes and without any apparent hostility or competition! We ended the walking tour at parathewali gali.

(posted by Rajesh Ranjan & Kanika Singh, team members, Delhi Heritage Walks)

Chandni Chowk Heritage Walk

Another great day for a walking tour. The excavations near Balban’s tomb seem to be over, couldn’t see any work going on. Everyone was amazed by the fact that Mehrauli’s ruins constitute the most ancient settlements in Delhi. The 17^th century settlement near Jamali’s mosque fascinated everybody; tiny yet, double storey rooms, the arched niches on walls. Another source of amusement was the stairs in these medieval monuments. They are extremely steep, narrow and those leading to roofs of buildings have such tiny access, like the one in Metcalfe’s Dilkusha. One wonders how people who built magnificent palaces and forts could manage with such awful stairs. In contrast, the steps down to the baoli offer an amazing view. Rajon in baoli is now completely dried up. So is the storm water drain nearby. We walked back, past the Jamali Kamali mosque to Khan Shaheed’s tomb and saw some people offering prayers there. They were people from the Delhi Wakf which is located nearby.

(posted by Rajesh Ranjan & Kanika Singh, team members, Delhi Heritage Walks)

Mehrauli Archaeological Park Heritage Walk