City Monument - Adam Khan's Tomb, Mehrauli

City Monument – Adam Khan’s Tomb, Mehrauli

You’ll get lost here. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] On a hilly mound, this structure is more than just the ruined tomb of Adam Khan, a scheming foster-brother of Akbar whom the Mughal Emperor punished by having him…

City Monument – Coronation Park, Bhai Parmanand Marg

City Monument – Coronation Park, Bhai Parmanand Marg

The relics of the Raj. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] At the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century, the empire of Great Britain comprehended the most civilized portion of mankind. Delhi was its principal possession….

City Monument - Minto Bridge, Near Connaught Place

City Monument – Minto Bridge, Near Connaught Place

The railway landmark’s emotional pull. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] We don’t expect aesthetics out of a railway underbridge. Minto Bridge, that connects Connaught Place (CP) to the New Delhi railway station (Ajmeri Gate side), is an ambivalent…

City Monument – Subramania Bharathi Plaza, Maharshi Raman Marg

City Monument – Subramania Bharathi Plaza, Maharshi Raman Marg

The instant getaway. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] No escapist haven, it is still an excellent place to seek seclusion. The statue of Tamil poet Subramania Bharathi (circa 1987) in a little plaza, off Maharshi Raman Marg, near…

City Monument – Metcalfe’s Folly, Mehrauli Archaeological Park

City Monument – Metcalfe’s Folly, Mehrauli Archaeological Park

A soul-stirring ruin. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One dreamy ruin that you must visit when in love is the Metcalfe’s Folly in Mehrauli Archaeological Park, that deliciously dense jumble of trees, graves, and domes in south Delhi….

City Monument - Chausanth Khamba, Nizamuddin Basti

City Monument – Chausanth Khamba, Nizamuddin Basti

[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Beautiful and ignored. The most beautiful of all buildings in the congested Nizamuddin Basti, it is also the most ignored. Most visitors to this 14th century village, named after a sufi saint, head…

City Monument - Jama Masjid on a High

City Monument – Jama Masjid on a High

Allah is closer to Old Delhi rooftops. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon The Delhi Walla went knocking around houses in Old Delhi’s Matia Mahal asking the residents, “May I please climb to your rooftop?” I was…

City Culture – The Band of Brothers, Hauz Khas Ruins

City Culture – The Band of Brothers, Hauz Khas Ruins

The 7 idiots. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Their shoulders are swinging softly, their feet are tapping on the stone floor and some of them are shutting their eyes in intense passion. This is a group of seven…

City Monument – Gurudwara Seesganj, Chandni Chowk

Holy and serene. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Not as open and airy as Bangla Sahib gurudwara in Connaught Place, Seesganj Sahib is as serene as any spiritual destination should be. It was built in memory of Guru…

City Landmark – Red Fort, Old Delhi

The necessary ruin. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is nothing inside the imposing ramparts of Red Fort, or Lal Quila, except a few gardens, a couple of crumbling halls, and two museums with spotty paintings and antique…