Monday, March 17, 2008

Lesser known Monuments and Relics in the Walled City

When we think of Old Delhi monuments. We think of the Red Fort and Jama Masjid. However there are so many monuments in this densely packed area originalled called Shahjanabad. It was later called the `Walled City' because Shah Jahan had built a wall and 14 gates around it. Some of the monuments in the Walled City have survived the rages of time, encoachment and general neglect. Some of them resonate with their past prestige but most of them are sad ruins fallen to neglect and apathy.

Anglo Arabic School, Ajmeri Gate - also called Ghaziuddin Madrasa was established by Ghaziuddin a genera of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1702. IT was declared a heritage monument by the ASI in 2002. Anglo Arabic School had many names-Anglo Arabic College, Delhi College and Zakir Hussain College. Zakir Hussain college was shifted from here but a wing in the building still houses a boy's hostel for Zakir Hussain. Until 1827 this building functioned as a madrasa.

Entrance of Anglo Arabic School


One of the three arches at the entrance.


The building from Ajmeri Gate


Boys hostel of Zakir Hussain College-inside Anglo Arabic School

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Nawab Ghaziuddin Khan Masjid is a three domed structrue built with red kota stone. There was once a well and a tank connected to the mosque for wuzu (ablutions). There is also a mazaar (shrine) of a saint in the northern side of the mosque. The school suffered during the Sepoy Mutiny when the science laboratories and the library were burnt and along with that umpteen priceless manuscripts turned to ashes.








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Masjid Mubarak Begum- is a mosque made by an englishman for his mistress -Mubarak Begum. It is also crudely called `randi ki masjid'. I was made in 1800. It stands at Lal Kuan, at Hauz Kazi chowk among a tangle of electric cables and hoardings. It is now under the Waqf board. This mosque gotestablished on the upper floor at a latter date.



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Mirja Ghalib's Haveli- I have visited this haveli several times over the past one decade. Until a few years ago it was a place for storage of coals. After a lot of pressure from the literay world and the media it has been somewhat restored. Ghalib spent most of his life in this haveli writing some of his famous poems here. The havali is located in Gali Qasam Jaan in Ballimaran.

Ballimaran had many such historic havelis but they were neglected and finally encroached. It is said that Ballimaran had a canal running through its main street during the time of Shah Jehan. It was so deep that ballis (wooden poles) were used to measure its depth. That’s why the area was named Ballimaran. Another story is that a lot of billis (cats) where killed here.

Urdu couplets of Ghalib on the walls



Men having lunch at the Haveli




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Ajmeri Gate-is one of the 14 entrances to the walled city of Shahajahanabad. The city Shah Jahan built. It is so called because it faces Ajmer. During the 1857 mutiny a fierce battle was fought at this site. It is simple in design and made of locally available stone.



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Sunday, March 16, 2008

Jantar Mantar, Astronomical Observatory,New Delhi

Jantar Mantar in New Delhi was built in 1724 by Raja Jai Singh II of Jaipur. It is an astronomical observatory with masonry instruments. It has has instruments that can calculate the movement of sun , the moon and the stars. Jantar Mantar Delhi has the Samrat Yantra, Jai Prakash, Ram Yantra, Niyati Chakra, Misra Yantra. The other observatories built by Raja Jai Singh are in Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura.















Saturday, March 15, 2008

Safdarjung's Tomb

I have visited Safdarjung's tomb a couple of times. But i never got a photograph of of the monument reflecting in the waters of the fountains. All year around there is no water in the four channels built around Safdarjung. The water fills in them briefly when it rains but its quickly pumped out by the gardners. They do this so that stagnant water in the channels dont breed dengue and malaria mosquitoes. So one day just after it had rained I rushed to Safdarjung's Tomb and captured these rare pictures of the monument reflecting in the fountain waters.

Safdarjung's tomb was built by Nawab Shuja-ud-Daulah, the son of Safdarjung. Safdarjung was the governor of Awadh who later became the Prime Minister of Muhammad Shah, the Mughal emperor. Built in 1753-1754, the Safdarjung tomb lies at the Lodi road, New Delhi. The garden of Safdarjung's tomb is laid down on the pattern of the Mughal Charbagh style. The Safdarjung tomb was erected roughly on the pattern of Humayun's tomb. Safdarjung's tomb represents the last phase of the Mughal style of architecture. There are two graves here, one of Safdarjung and the other apparently his wife's. The square central chamber of the mausoleum is surrounded by eight rooms all around. All the apartments, except the corner ones are rectangular in shape, the corner ones being octagonal. The dome of the tomb rises from a sixteen-sided base. On either side of the Safdarjung tomb are beautiful pavilions, known as "Moti Mahal" or the pearl palace, "Jangli Mahal" or the sylvan palace and "Badshah Pasand' or the Emperor's favourite.









The Taj Mahal

The first time i visited Taj Mahal was in 1997. I was a fledgling journalist and was lucky to be sent to cover the Yanni concert at Agra. The concert was on the banks of the Yamuna with the Taj Mahal as the backdrop. It was a major musical event of the year especially since it raked up a lot of controversy. This was the first time something of such a large scale was being done near the Taj Mahal. I was not impressed at all when i went to see Taj Mahal on the morning of the concert. It did not live upto my expectations of it. But i realise the more i visit the monument the more i begin to appreciate its beauty, its scale, its architecture and its metaphotic importance. In the october of 2006 i was in Agra and on my 4th visit to the Taj Mahal. And this time more spellbound by it than ever. I shot the monument for two consequent days. I went across the Yamuna and shot it from the banks of Yamuna where i sat one evening over 9 years ago among the glitterati listining to the strains of Yanni's music with Taj Mahal standing out as a silhouette against the sky.