City Monument – Jahaz Mahal, Mehrauli
Marooned palace. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every year after the monsoons, this ravaged monument whose name means “ship palace” hosts music, dance and acting. It becomes the focal point of cultural activities marking Phoolwalon ki Sair, a…
City Monuments – H.A. Mirza & Sons Postcards, Muslim & British Delhi
The beautiful untruths. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The fragmented past lives on in memories. Sometimes it gets marinated in more tangible objects. In the early decades of 20th century, the photo studio of H.A. Mirza & Sons in Chandni Chowk,…
City Monument – Jahanara’s Tomb, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah
An open-air mausoleum. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a city notorious for its hostility to women, a cramped, little-known monument has emerged as their private sanctuary. Even stranger, this unlikely place is tucked into one corner of…
City Monument – 5 Hidden Treasures, Around Town
A selection of Delhi’s serene monuments. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Aamir Khan-starrer film PK has had an unintended, somewhat unfortunate, impact on one serene locale: Agrasen ki Baoli. This 14th century stepwell off central Delhi’s Hailey…
City Monument – War Wall, Mehrauli
The unknown soldiers. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It does not look like a place worth stopping for. This is just a yellowing wall, albeit in historic Mehrauli. But stop. An inscribed marble plaque is embedded in the…
City Monument – St Mary’s Catholic Church, SP Mukherjee Road
God’s lovely house. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] If the British had made our land their lasting and loving home, then Delhi would have had as many British-period churches as there are Mughal-era tombs. The capital probably would…
City Monument – Turkman Gate, Asaf Ali Road
The Walled City guardian. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Old Delhi’s greatly diminished boundary wall once had 14 gateways. Each gate was named for the direction it faced, save one. That gate, named after the Sufi saint Hazrat…
City Monument – Holy Trinity Church, Turkman Gate
A Byzantine phantom. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A succession of white domes, topped with lantern-like structures, estranges this old building from its counterparts in this quarter of the city. The Holy Trinity Church stands at the southern…
City Monument – Teen Murti Bhavan, Central Delhi
Into a family album. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] How could a handsome, erudite man of romantic sensibilities such as Jawaharlal Nehru bring himself to read Research In Animal Husbandry? Thousands of similarly titled volumes that line the…
City Monument – Delhi Sultanate Ruins, Around Town
Lodhi-era and others. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Concealed amid the ruins of south Delhi’s Mehrauli Archaeological Park, Ghiyas-ud-din Balban’s unmarked grave bakes in the hot sun. This doesn’t befit his stature. “During the whole time that he…
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