City Monument – St James’ Church, Kashmere Gate
Delhi’s Old Testament. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One of the capital’s great monuments built by the British is not in the British-built Lutyens’ Delhi. It lies beyond the limits of the Walled City, in Kashmere Gate. St…
City Monument – Tughlakabad Fort, South Delhi
The grand desolation. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Red Fort is nothing to it. Seriously. This fort is grander. How to describe it? Think frozen music. The Tughlakabad Fort’s sloping rubble-filled outer walls are spread out on a…
City Monument – The Church of Epiphany, Civil Lines, Gurgaon
A Colonial-era relic. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Certainly not, you can’t miss tomorrow’s service! What would people say? Especially Mrs Bennet and her five daughters, always so eager to gossip. The Church of Epiphany in Gurgaon is…
City Monument – A Lesser Known Baoli, Matia Mahal
A step-well around the corner. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] With a mere 380 years behind it, Old Delhi isn’t all that old. (Sorry to shatter your illusions) Centuries before the Walled City was founded, it still had…
City Monument – Bedil’s Tomb, Near Purana Quila
The Bedil pilgrimage. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Torn, faded silk fabrics are lying like shrouds upon the ruined graves, sheltering these relics from rain, sunshine and dust. And in one corner lies a grave with a roof….
City Monument – A Lesser-Known Mosque, Safdarjang’s Tomb
A side relic. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s hard to put your finger on it, but there’s an ineffable sense of sadness about Safdarjang’s Tomb—which isn’t always the case with memorials for the dead. One of the…
City Monument – The Ascent of Humayun’s Tomb, Central Delhi
The top of the monument. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The place is very breezy, and so quiet that you can hear the kites flapping their feathers. For a brief moment, you may even dream of getting a…
City Monument – Mubarak Begum Masjid, Hauz Qazi
The mosque of the whore. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Machine-part shops overflowing with nuts, bolts, cables, and welding rod electrodes. And amid these sights soars the infinitely graceful Mubarak Begum masjid. Situated in a congested Old Delhi…
City Monument – Jama Masjid’s Backside, Old Delhi
A rarely examined perspective. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A panorama of immense grandeur, the Jama Masjid soars far above the hubbub. Small wonder then countless tourists the world over flock to this Mughal-era masterpiece. But there’s an…
City Monument – Chor Minar, Hauz Khas Enclave
Terrors of the past. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Right here in the terribly genteel Hauz Khas Enclave stands an ancient tower mainly noted for cruelty beyond the unspeakable. But The Delhi Walla will speak of it anyway….
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