Something about me

Monday, July 16, 2012

A walk in Mehrauli

Delhi is a walker's paradise (between July and March, that is - I wouldn't venture walking in the 45 degree heat!). There are a lot of walking trails organized by a bunch of organizations. There are atleast five or six of the latter apart from INTACH and the walks are not just ones to enjoy the greenery (of which Delhi has an abundance) but also every other aspect of life in this fantastic city. So there are food walks (very popular), Sufi walks, flower walks in addition to the regular heritage and history walks.
Over the weekend, I managed to rustle up a couple of friends to meet me at the Qutub Minar bright and early at 7 am for a heritage walk through Mehrauli, a walk was organized by Delhi By Foot. Mehrauli is probably the oldest of the seven documented cities which make up Delhi as we know it today. This does not include the Indraprastha of mythological lore, the location of which in the same site as present-day Delhi has not been conclusively proved, yet. Mehrauli was settled long before Prithviraj Chauhan expanded the city and called it Lal Kot. In the early 13th century, Qutubuddin Aibak became the first Sultan of Delhi, with his capital at Siri (where Siri Fort is today). Firozabad (or Kotla Firoz Shah), Tughlaqabad, Shahjahanabad and Lutyen's Delhi are the other cities that sprang up, flourished and decayed between the Aravallis and the Yamuna.
The group was fairly large, about 20 people, most with DSLRs hanging from their necks. Our first stop was at Metcalf''s Folly. Metcalf was one of the first Residents of Delhi and he had erected these structures. No one knows what they were meant for.


We passed through some other monuments, including the very beautiful mosque and tomb of Jamali-Kamali. In the winters, we actually love to picnic in the Mehrauli Archaelogical Park where this tomb/mosque is located (which makes Delhi one of the few cities in the world I am sure where people regularly picnic right on top of tombs).

The original inlay work at the double tomb of Jamali-Kamali. It's in superb condition inspite of not having been restored by the ASI. The tomb is kept locked to avoid a lot of visitors walking all over but the guards are obliging enough to open the gates when you ask them to.
The surprise package was the lovely stepwell which appeared out of nowhere, astonishing me who had been to the park so many times. And since I absolutely adore stepwells, this was a huge treat for moi. Rajaon ki Baoli was it's name, though we don't know which Raja built it and when. We also walked to another stepwell, which was outside the park in Mehrauli village where young boys and men were enjoying the cool waters of the well and jumping off the ledges wiith abandon.
Rajaon Ki Baoli. In the forefront are the steps leading down to the water. However water was drawn from a deep well right on top.
Cool arches to shelter from the heat and rest near the Baoli
Another view of the Baoli

Look at the stunning engraving. Each arch had a different design
The forecast for that morning was windy and blustery. But the Met department being what it is, it was sunny and humid! Fortunately welcome gusts of wind fanned us every now and then and made the walk a very pleasant one. Look at these boys cooling off!


These boys were enjoying a game of ...what else....cricket.

A lovely beginning to a Sunday, for sure. Next up - Tughlaqabad Fort, and hopefully it will rain that weekend!

19 comments:

  1. wow..the heritage walk seems lovely. A good brush up of history too :-) (am rather too bad at it:-))

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    1. Yeah its a much more fun way of learning history than poring over boring textbooks like we used to do!

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  2. Wow you organised a heritage walk!! Some energy I must say ..
    Something similar happens in Chennai too .. When Madras day is celebrated I think .. But I belong to that pathetic category that would rather sit and read the review in The Hindu :)
    Nice pictures and a good dosage of history too .. I've been to Delhi only once and that too just for a half a day's stop .. So barely saw anything ..
    And step in wells give me the creeps .. Don't know why ..
    To my mind, the water would appear as a treacherous shield hiding unknown dangers .. I can look at one but never step in ..

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    1. Oh no aarthy, I did not organize it. I just made sure I had some company :) There were about 25 people on the walk.
      I did hear Madras has some nice walks as well. Hopefully will get to go someday.
      The stepwell was actually very large - it's more like one of those river ghats - nothing to get worried about :)) So u don't feel like u are stepping into a well, more like just going down to a small riverbank.

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  3. Hey Aparna great one...jus a lil bit is incorrect, so maybe u can send us a mail on delhibyfoot@gmail.com and we can send u bit of a cprrection for u :)

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    1. Sure, will do...where did I get the facts wrong? :)

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    2. Hi Aparna...It is Rajon Ki Baoli, not Rajaon...primarily it was used by Masons (Raj Mistry as you call it in hindi now) and thus the name was Rajon Ki Baoli. It was built duing the Lodhi era, few of those monuments that the Lodhis had made in & around Delhi..

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    3. Ok, thanks a ton for the correction...will make the edits as soon as I get a chance.

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  4. me and the hubby had planned to join this walk but a late saturday night dinner resulted in us waking up at 11 am :P

    glad u did this post...i have done many walks in delhi but not this one!!

    http://sushmita-smile.blogspot.in/

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    1. Hi shooting star,
      Welcome here :) I guess they do this walk fairly regularly, maybe you can join next time.

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    2. Hi Aparna/Shooting Star...yes we are showcasing Delhi's off-the-beaten-track kind of spots with a bit of sher-o-shayari, drama, lots of food & photography...check our FB Page & schedule here, including for thsi Sunday's walk...
      Cheers & hope to see you guys again..
      https://www.facebook.com/Delhibyfoot?ref=hl#!/notes/delhi-by-foot/dbf-july-2012-walks-schedule/415774181794856

      https://www.facebook.com/Delhibyfoot#!/Delhibyfoot/photos

      https://www.facebook.com/events/365943886812645/

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  5. Heritage Walk :) Sounds interesting :) :) I hope I can do this some time when I come to delhi

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    1. You should. Although all the major cities have such walks nowadays.

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  6. I am glad you put it down like this. Though i was there at the walk many details registered better now. Thanx.

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    1. Thanks Jayshri :) I did get some details wrong tho!

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  7. I missed this post! Just saw it! :)

    Lovely post and beautiful pics! :) A heritage walk sounds like fun, though I have never done one yet. And in a city like Delhi, where there is so much history, it sure should be interesting. Why didn't I know of these things when I visited Delhi? :( ** Wail wail** I would have loved to do the Sufi walk and the food walk.

    Delhi has that feeling about it, right, that there are a lot of layers to it, and that you can go on peeling and peeling and keep finding new stuff at each corner? That's how I felt when I visited it for the first time last March. My trip was only for a few days, though, and we could only cover some important tourist destinations. Would love to take the walks next time...

    This post reminded me that Bangalore always some interesting walks. Maybe I should take them up sometime!

    Yes, a picnic on a tomb site is possible only in Delhi, I think. When I visited Lodhi Gardens, I sat and munched some snacks happily, looking at some beautiful structures inside the garden. It was only later that I realised that I was sitting on a tomb-like structure... I don't know if it really was a tomb, though. :)

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    1. Yes Bangalore has some great walks too. Do go for those and review it for us :) The huge plus is that the weather is never a constraint in Bnagalore!

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  8. Isn't Mehrauli mentioned in the song - Lakdi ki kaathi, kaathi pe ghoda? Not sure, but have a faint recollection.

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    1. Hmm...u are right...I have a faint recollection too.

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I would love to hear your thoughts :)