City Monument – Dr Ambedkar National Memorial, Alipur Road
The touchable god. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is no one here other than The Delhi Walla. This is the memorial of Bhimrao Ambedkar, the principal architect of the Indian constitution and a leader who championed for…
City Monument – Hindon Rail Bridge, Ghaziabad
The bridges of a Delhi county. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Positioned five miles outside Delhi’s eastern limits, this redbrick railway bridge is in Ghaziabad, a district in Uttar Pradesh. Composed of a series of six 70-feet-wide arches,…
City Monument – Khair ul Manzil, Mathura Road
A bubble of serenity. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Its name means ‘The good destination’ in Arabic. The tranquil Khair ul Manzil masjid was built in 1561 by Maham Anga, the wet nurse and foster mother of Mughal…
City Monument – India Gate, Place Charles de Gaulle
Delhi in Paris. [Photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The free online encyclopedia Wikipedia warns that Delhi’s India Gate should not be confused with the Gateway of India in Bombay. But during a trip to Paris, The Delhi Walla confused a…
City Monument – Maulana Azad’s Mausoleum, Near Meena Bazaar
The tomb of secularism. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is circled by the sounds of Shahjahanabad’s beggars, pavement vendors, shopkeepers, shoppers, goats, and amateur cricketers. Yet, the garden-tomb of Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed, aka Maulana Azad, remains…
City Monument – Qutub Minar Complex, Mehrauli
379 steps to heaven. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Size matters, sometimes adversely. Lightning has twice damaged the Qutub Minar, India’s tallest stone tower. This five-storeyed red and buff sandstone tower, with marble trimmings higher up, massaged the…
City Monument – Zeenat ul Masaajid, Near Ansari Road
A Jama Masjid miniature. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Seven-arched facade of red sandstone. Three domes in stripes of white and black marble. Two minarets. Zeenat ul Masaajid, ‘the ornament of the mosque’, lies close to the Ring…
City Monument – Jain Svetambar Temple, Kinari Bazaar
Luxury of the ascetics. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Amid Delhi’s dense tangle of mosques, forts and tombs, it is easy to miss the city’s non-Islamic heritage. Let Jain Svetambar Temple not be one of them. The most…
City Monument – Ghalib’s Tomb, Nizamuddin Basti
The poet’s place. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Opened from sunrise to sunset, the mausoleum of Urdu poet Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan Ghalib usually remains empty. His rectangular tomb chamber is in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, a central Delhi…
City Monument – Khooni Darwaza, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
The home of headless ghosts. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Khooni Darwaza means ‘bloodied gateway’ and legend has it that blood drips from its ceilings during the monsoon. Built by Sher Shah Suri in 1540 it is in…
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