City Monument – Bagh e Nabiullah Mosque, Hauz Qazi
Hidden mosque. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The courtyard springs up without warning. Outside—a dense blab of peoples, sounds, streets and multifarious sensations. Inside—this airy courtyard, utmost silence, and barely anyone. Bagh e Nabiullah sits in the heart…
City Monument – Toy Qutub Minar, Mahipalpur
Dummy history. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Next time your flight lands at Delhi airport, look outside carefully from the aircraft window. Moments before the plane’s wheels hit the runway, you are likely to spot the iconic Shiv…
City Monument – Pandemic-Era Chhoti Gumti, Green Park
Society of the dome. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Let us go then, you and I, when the afternoon is spread out against the grass. Like on this afternoon of March. The sky is so blue that it…
City Monument – Rani Tara Devi’s Derelict Grave, Nicholson Cemetery
A resting place. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] We will never know what distresses were raging through Rani Tara Devi’s heart when she boarded a taxi at north Delhi’s Maidens Hotel, drove all the way to the Qutub…
City Monument – Mughal-Era Pavilion, Sunder Nursery
A secret spot. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The white walls are embossed with the likenesses of arches and flowers. The outermost skin of choona — the lime plaster on the walls — is peeling off in places,…
City Monument – Dilli Gate, Daryaganj
A Walled City Survivor. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Crenellation. Of course, you know the meaning. Some of us might not, and we can always Google it. But certainly all of us ought to head to a particular…
City Monument – Masjid Mubarak Begum, Chawri Bazar
Like a wounded fairy tale. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is among Delhi’s most melancholic souvenirs. One of the domes no longer exists. The missing portion is wrapped in a blue tarpaulin, like a makeshift bandage on…
City Monument – Stranded Column, Chirag Delhi Village
Littered past. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The pillar is slender, and swells up towards the top like a sonata soaring to a crescendo. It appears to be of red sandstone but the red has faded. You may…
City Monument – Nila Gumbad, Humayun Tomb Complex
The Humayun blue. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s 24 karat gold—the kalash , or the finial, at the top of the Humayun’s Tomb. The gilded metal glistens in sunshine. Just some steps away is a much smaller…
City Monument – Adam Khan’s Tomb, Mehrauli
A hilltop memorial [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] You want to lose yourself? Okay, come here then. This is Delhi’s only known Bhool Bhullaiya, a knotty labyrinth where one may easily get lost, as its thick walls enclose…
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