City Monument – Rang Mahal, Red Fort Monuments by The Delhi Walla - June 6, 2011August 16, 20110 The Mughal harem. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The largest apartment of the Mughal harem, Rang Mahal – the palace of colours - is one of the most evocative architectural compositions in Red Fort, a 17th century world of courts, palaces, mosques, water channels and gardens, now all of them in ruins. Shahjahan, the builder of Taj Mahal, raised the palace-fort complex on the banks of Yamuna, which, over the centuries, has moved away by several hundred yards. His walled world of marble buildings was the site of the decline and fall of the Mughals. The fort was looted by Nadir Shah, the king of Persia; and vandalized by the British, who ended the Mughal dynasty. After retaking Delhi following
City Faith – Laddu Shah’s Dargah, GB Road Faith by The Delhi Walla - June 1, 2011June 2, 20111 A historically unimportant sufi shrine. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] An obscure sufi shrine, the dargah of Imam Ullah Shah urf Laddu Shah Baba consist of a small dark chamber. Situated in GB Road, Delhi’s red light district, the dargah’s walls are laid with white tiles; so is the tomb. A few tiles are painted with flowers. The dome is decked with broken tiles in shades of blue, white and green. The walls have calendars; one has a picture of Mecca, with the Holy Quran at the forefront. A framed poster shows Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque. The shrine is built around the trunk of a neem tree, which after emerging from the roof, multiplies into a towering network of leafy branches.