Letter from Another Delhi — A Walk in Daulatabad, the Tughlaqs’ Other Capital
A journey into another Delhi. [Text and photos by Adrien Thomson] “It was almost a desert,” wrote the great voyager Ibn Battuta in his memoirs, referring to Delhi in 1333. “The greatest city in the world had the fewest inhabitants.”…
City Monument – Najaf Khan’s Tomb, Near Lodhi Road Railway Station
Tomb without the dome. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] What if Humayun’s Tomb didn’t have a dome — just the stone plinth on which it stands? To see what it would look like, just head to Najaf Khan’s…
City Monument – Finding Agatha Christie’s Grave, Cholsey, England
A quiet home. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The air is cold even though this is summer. Lichens are growing on the gravestones. It is evening and The Delhi Walla is walking through the old cemetery of St…
City Monument – Mubarak Shah Sayyid’s Tomb, Kotla Mubarakpur
The elusive memorial. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is true only up to a point. It is late afternoon and The Delhi Walla is walking along the alleys of south Delhi’s Kotla Mubarakpur village for more than…
City Monument – Grave Sufis, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah
The anonymous relics. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The first one is near the entrance, next to the stand where visitors take off their shoes. Step into the courtyard and you’ll find another one, half hidden behind a…
City Monument – Sunehri Masjid, Chandni Chowk
Remembering the Delhi massacre. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was from Sunehri Masjid that the Persian invader Nader Shah watched the massacre of Delhi in March, 1739. In his book The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from…
City Monument – Delhi’s Vanishing Ruins, Mehrauli
The dying heritage. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Outrageous. No other word to describe it. A new garish pink building, still splotched with cement stains, now stands right beside what is probably the last important Mughal monument in…
City Monument – Khirki Mosque, Opposite MGF Mall, Saket
Delhi’s romantic ruin. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] With its blackened walls, collapsed domes, and a covered hall in which natural light plays hide and seek, this is Delhi’s most romantic ruin. One of the seven mosques built…
City Monument – Moth Ki Masjid, Near Uday Park
Our neighbourhood ruin. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] As a mosque, it is dead. Prayers are not offered here. As a monument, Moth ki Masjid is full of life. The stone mosque takes its name from moth (beans),…
City Monument – Anglo-Arabic School, Near New Delhi Railway Station
Far from the world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a secret world–exquisite without being ostentatious. The Mughal-era Anglo-Arabic School consists of a cluster of early-18th century buildings. That includes a Sufi shrine, a tomb and a…
Recent Comments