Thanewala Gumbad, New Delhi

While reading about Delhi’s monuments & heritage structures, I often come across details about structures taken over by the city’s population, often demolished, at times occupied in its original state & at times renovated & turned into living quarters/shops/hospitals by changing the way the structure looked. The Red Fort was occupied by the British Army after the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny/War of Independence & several structures within the complex were razed to ground to make way for their barracks. But that was in 1857, & except for the Red Fort (refer Pixelated Memories - Red Fort), I myself never saw any structure razed/renovated. Until a few days ago that is. Some days ago, I visited the Thanewala Gumbad in South Delhi. The condition of the structure made me realize that this is what happens when the ever progressive tide of urbanization comes face to face with a structure struck somewhere in the medieval ages.

Thanewala Gumbad - First impressions

Taken over on all sides by residential areas & shops, the structure lies surrounded by the spirit of commercialization in the middle of Shahpur Jat. A suburban village, Shahpur Jat, has suddenly found its way into the books of city’s nouveau rich – once a village home to Jats (an ethnic group more common to nearby Haryana), today the new lifestyle hub boasts of designer boutiques & shops selling everything from expensive collectibles, clothes, & furniture. & of course, there was also a Bikanerwala close to the gumbad (I have observed that you can find a Bikanerwala in almost every neighborhood in Delhi. They specialize mostly in sweets, but you can gobble up their pakoras (deep-fried bread filled with potatoes & cottage cheese, coated in a layer of corn flour & again deep fried) with a bottle of coke if you feel hungry after running around the numerous heritage structures that Delhi boasts of. The food is hygienic too!!). The Thanewala Gumbad today survives in the form of a large, domed chamber with its back against the shorter side of the large rectangular courtyard that encloses it.

"Aerial View"

The walls of the gumbad slightly slope towards the outside & are exceedingly unadorned. Nobody knows who built the structure, though it is accepted that the architecture is reminiscent of construction undertaken during the reign of the Khilji Dynasty (ruled 1290-1320 AD). The gumbad lacks ornamentation of any sort, a characteristic of Khilji & later Tughlaq-era buildings – both its interiors & exteriors are thread bare & the only concession to its simplicity are niches that line the bottom of the dome on the inside & the recessed, arched corners. Outside, the dome rests on an octagonal base (drum) decorated with a line of kanguras (battlement-like ornamentation work). The mihrab (the wall inside a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca, faced by Muslims while praying) is very simple, consisting of three arched recesses, the central one slightly larger than the ones flanking it.

Too simple!!

The side opposite the mihrab has three arched entrances, while the other two sides have two small arched entrances each & a blocked arched recess in the place of the central entrance. A small arched window is provided high in the centre of each side to let in sunlight. The courtyard also bears indications that there were several other structures within the complex. Only the foundations remain of what must once have been pillars on either side of the existing domed chamber, indicating the presence of cloisters. It is now accepted that the gumbad was once a mosque. A gumbad is basically a tall, domed chamber with solid walls. Cloistered chambers on either side of the said “gumbad” would fit very well with the mosque theory. Also there is no grave inside the chamber which is further proof that this is not a tomb (as most gumbads are). I don’t understand why isn’t it referred to as a mosque instead of a gumbad if that might be the case. Perhaps some later historian bungled up when compiling a list of structures in Delhi.

Cloister remains to the left of the central chamber

The courtyard also shows signs of arched recesses along one of the longer sides. Perhaps these alcoves were used for lightning earthen lamps, though these appear pretty large. I am tempted to believe that these were part of rooms for the priests of the mosque, or perhaps there once existed a small Islamic seminary. If that would have been the case, the mosque might have been very similar to the Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque in another part of Delhi, but in a similar run-down condition (refer Pixelated Memories - Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque). The courtyard itself was filled with all sorts of rubbish & even construction material the day I visited the gumbad/mosque. A large family picnicked in the courtyard, complete with food & even a hookah!! A washer man dried clothes nearby. Thorny bushes grew around garbage heaps. More than the interior, it is the exterior of the enclosing walls that is in dire need of protection. Along the shorter sides of the courtyard ran parallel streets. A small slum house made with bricks & corrugated iron sheets (next to the main road flanking the gumbad towards its back) used the wall as one of its sides. Towards one of the larger sides, an alley lead to a cluster of houses & showrooms. It was one of these houses that I climbed on to get an “aerial” view of the gumbad/mosque & its surroundings. The walls of these houses maintained their distance from the gumbad’s enclosure, though it seemed almost hopeless, given that Shahpur Jat is a hotchpotch of buildings jutting out of nowhere & giving way only to narrow streets & almost none vegetation. Not wishing to spare any space available in this urban jungle, a buzzing generator set sat next to the courtyard wall in this alley.

Eating into the structure - A shanty & a row of houses alongside the boundary wall

Buildings on the other side were even worse, literally fusing together with the enclosure walls. One had to walk past those buildings into a side street (this one has the Bikanerwala!!) & then make a detour to reach the entrance of the gumbad/mosque. It is a pretty precarious situation that the gumbad/mosque finds itself in, surrounded by all these houses & shops, whatever happened to the Monument Notification Act (1958) that bans construction within 100 metres of a protected monument?? Perhaps the gumbad/mosque isn’t a protected monument, I did not see the characteristic blue board that Archaeological Survey of India (A.S.I.) places near protected monuments. The only worthwhile thing here was that more than encroachments, the place was taken over by kids running around, playing tag here. Many of them clambered around me in a bid to get photographed along with the ruins. They jumped within the gumbad & around it too, unmindful of the pillar stubs sticking out in an ordered progression. The huge chamber boomed with their laughter & echoed back their shouts.

These cloisters exist on the right side of the structure. Visible in the background are the remains of Siri Fort wall

I would rather suggest that this surrounding courtyard be converted to a small park, similar to the park across the parking lot across the road that boasts of bastions & walls of the Siri Fort (another fortress city within Delhi, subject of another post). A gardener could be assigned here, at least this way the place would not give way to encroachments & hawkers, & even the kids would find a new spot within the congested city to run around. But then, is anyone listening??

Location: Shahpur Jat village
Open: All days, Sunrise to Sunset
Nearest Metro Station: Green Park Station
How to Reach: From Green Park Metro Station, take a bus for Shahpur Jat village. Opposite the bus stop is a large park, beyond which lies a parking lot. Walk through the park & the parking lot & you will spot the dome of Thanewala Gumbad rising in the midst of shops. Navigate to find the entrance.
Entrance Fee: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: About 30 min
Relevant Links -

1. Pixelated Memories - Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque
2. Pixelated Memories - Red Fort

Mohammad Wala Mosque, New Delhi

One of Delhi’s most beautiful mosques lies hidden from the city’s inhabitants. Close to the Siri Sports Complex (which derives its name from another ruined fortress within Delhi, Siri, subject of a future post), stands the elegant Mohammad Wala Mosque. Literally, its name means “the mosque of Mohammad”, but figuratively, the mosque belongs to no one. The citizens of the city have abandoned it, the Govt. has forgotten it & the large retinue of sportsmen, students & coaches who daily come to the adjoining Sports Complex & Museum ignore it. & yet, left to itself, this magnificent mosque of unknown vintage fends for itself. Perhaps the Govt. is responsible for its present state – after all they were the ones who cordoned it off with fences & iron gates, but then what were they to do?? This mosque is a preserved monument, restored to its pristine state, & if the Govt. can’t earn revenue from it, they can’t let it fall into the hands of vandals & encroachers either. Or perhaps the people of the city – the ones who scribble their names on the walls of these monuments, who smudge paints & graffiti on the fine designs of these structures & especially those who either destroy entire monuments or surgically cleave them to make way for apartments & residential buildings – nightmare for the Govt. agencies responsible for monument upkeep, responsible for it. All in all, this is a precarious situation – all this tussle has held this mosque away from the eyes of the city people (the non-destructive kind). 

The Mohammad Wala Masjid

It is not known who built this mosque, though the architecture is definitely from the Lodi period. The Lodi dynasty ruled over Delhi from AD 1451-1526, more than a century after Sultan Alauddin Khilji built the Siri Fort. The Lodis, in the short span of time they ruled Delhi, faced numerous battles, court intrigues & rebellions by the nobles, before being routed out by Babur (the guy who established the three-century long Mughal rule). The Lodhis did not have any time or resources to build new palaces &/or fortress complexes & had to be content with ruling from the existing power centres in Delhi. But they built a number of tombs, mosques associated with tomb complexes as well as small, independent mosques. The Mohammadi Wala Mosque is an example of mosque associated to a tomb complex. Also it was built right next to the moat that encircled Siri Fort, perhaps at one time it lay just outside the city walls. There is no way of telling since portions of the Siri Fort were either destroyed by subsequent rulers, buried unknowingly when the Asiad Games (1982) Village was built nearby, or encroached upon by locals. The fortress exists only as wall portions & intermittent bastions peeking out in the urban jungle that Delhi has manifested into. Today there is no deep stream flowing within the moat that passed next to the Mohammadi Wala Mosque, nor the soldiers keep watch anymore. The area has been levelled & thorny bushes & tall grass cover the area around the mosque. Vibrantly coloured butterflies & insects flow around in the wilderness. A stretch of the fort’s wall (or what remains of it) runs close to the mosque complex, the bastions have been destroyed & the wall itself is not more than two metres high, at places even lower. Red sandstone plaques installed by Archaeological Survey of India (A.S.I.) detail the mosque’s history & also the site map since the ruins of Siri’s walls & bastion stretch alongside the mosque complex. A few of these plaques are already broken & crumbling to pieces. The mosque complex is enclosed by a rubble wall, the entrance is built of grey Delhi quartzite stone & red sandstone (you too can easily identify these things if you travel as much as I do!!). The iron door affixed to the complex entrance is ajar & unyielding, the half-open doors can’t be made to move in any direction. 

Entrance to the Mosque Complex

As soon as one enters the complex’s stone gateway, one feels impressed at the beauty & magnificence of the mosque. The mosque glints in the harsh sunlight. It once boasted of a large garden & an associated enclosed courtyard. Today the garden is taken over by wilderness, gnarled trees spread their branches along, grass & flowers battle for their existence & nourishment with wild vegetation. In a corner opposite the complex entrance is another smaller entrance, this one is locked & even otherwise gives way to the tall thorny bushes. A few graves lie in the garden, most of them submerged under the sea of this unwanted vegetation. The ones that are visible lie crumbled, shattered by plant roots & falling branches. Here & there can be seen huge mounds of soil & debris. Stones hinder the path, stacks of soft grass slow down one’s progress. It’s a wonder who left them here. 

Afterlife hindered??

The cemented courtyard adjacent to the mosque is empty, a few iron grilles that were meant to barricade the mosques passageways are stacked in one corner. Despite being abandoned, the mosque stands virtually unharmed in any way. Perhaps it has been very recently repaired & restored. But there were no labourers around – the entire place is deserted as if after a holocaust. & the ornamentation alcoves in its walls too are filled with spidery silk & remains of animal waste. The façade of the rectangular mosque, with its three arched entrances & protruding chajja (eaves) looks impressive. The entrances are all equal in size, but the central arch is set in a considerably taller niche. Locked iron doors prevent entry from either of the two side arches, the central door is again struck ajar – one has to squeeze through it to enter the medium-sized mosque. 

The peace & the solitude!!

More doors, this time open, are affixed to the entrances on the shorter sides of the mosque. Medallions made of incised plaster cover the mosque’s interiors – not floral medallions as in most other mosques in Delhi, but medallions covered with calligraphic inscriptions & geometric patterns. The mihrab (the wall indicating the direction of Mecca, faced by Muslims while praying) faces the central arch, & is very simply designed, flanked by alcoves for lighting diyas (earthen lamps). The mihrab’s arch & medallions display more unpretentious calligraphy. Small, perhaps ornamentative, niches form a honey-comb like structure towards the roof. These too are fringed by thin lines of calligraphy. A row of such niches stretch under the dome that rests above the central arch. The interior of the roof is decorated with geometrical patterns, calligraphy & paint bands forming two huge concentric eight-petal stars. Pigeons flutter around, a few swoop down close to my head. Perhaps they too are surprised at the sudden appearance of a visitor. 

& the symmetry!!

Intermittently comes the sound of people chattering & hawkers peddling their wares. Towards the back of the mosque is a street & residential areas. I step out into the adjoining courtyard towards the side of the mosque, there is no one there, but still I feel there is someone nearby. Sound of someone walking comes again & again. Good thing I don’t believe in ghosts & spirits. This courtyard is enclosed by a rubble wall on all four sides, a small opening in the wall leads back to the front garden. Stepping out, I notice that unlike the rest of the old monuments & structures throughout the country, the passageways leading to the mosque’s roof are not grilled here. Perhaps the A.S.I. did not feel the need to bar them since the complex sees so few visitors. I climbed up the narrow staircase, a strange dank smell emanated from the stairs. There were a few alcoves along the walls of the staircase, but this portion seemed to not have been touched during the renovation work (if any took place according to my assumption in the near past). There were spider webs & layers of dust & organic waste smudging the alcoves. I exited the passageway, the severe sunshine again blinding me for a minute. The dome glistened against the blue sky – it was really odd, standing next to a mosque’s dome. I had never before climbed up the mosque. I photographed the dome, the surrounding “gardens” & other compositions.

Its lonely up here..

I could see the road stretch behind the mosque, life seemed to go on undisturbed by my invasion. On the other side, within the larger Siri Fort complex, I could see the fort’s extensive ruined walls extend till as far as I could see. But there was no sign of any life. There ought to be someone here since I could see a water pipe extending along the fort wall. A gardener must be snoozing someone around, the pipe wouldn’t have dragged by itself. I climb down the way I came, again gazing at the mosque & photographing it. 

"To love beauty is to see light" (Victor Hugo)

For more than half an hour, I had the run of the place, photographing it, checking every nook & crevice. I wish all monuments were like that!! But alas, this would not be for long. There have been news reports that the Muslim population of the city led by an organisation called the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind wants all these heritage mosques to be thrown open for prayers. They claim that the Govt. has no right to keep these locked & have taken to forcing their way into these sealed complexes to perform prayers. “Once a mosque, always a mosque”. Although the Heritage & Monuments Notification (1958) states that the national monuments are not to be used for prayers if they were abandoned at the time of Govt. takeover, the A.S.I. along with the National Waqf Board (Custodian of Muslim graveyards, mosques & other religional spaces in the country) & the National Commission for Minorities is looking into the matter. I shudder to think what would be the fate of this serene structure once it is converted to a thoroughfare. Would the gardens give way to residential quarters for the “caretakers”?? Would the walls retain their fine calligraphy?? Or would it be painted over like the mosque in Feroz Shah Kotla or Nizamuddin Dargah?? I hope it would not be painted bright pink & orange like the Tarikh-ul-Islam Mosque in Qutb Complex!! 

Lost & Found

Note – The gate leading inside the cordoned off archaeological complex of which the mosque is a part of is usually kept locked to prevent miscreants & vandals from entering. If such is the case, the keys can be accessed from the A.S.I. custodian in the Children’s Museum across the road. Or you can retrace your steps to enter through a gap in the wire enclosure that encloses the complex as I did. The gap is visible just a few meters from the entrance gate & leads to a portion of Siri walls apparently converted into a small dump yard by the locals. Side step & proceed!!

Location: Siri Fort Complex
Open: All days, Sunrise to Sunset
Nearest Metro Station: Green Park Station
How to Reach: After getting down at Green Park Metro Station walk/take an auto to Siri Fort Sports Complex. Just before the Complex is the Siri Fort Children's Museum. The archaeological area is opposite the Children's Museum.
Entrance Fee: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil

Time required for sightseeing: About 30 min

Relevant Links - 

1. Pixelated Memories - Kotla Feroz Shah
2. Pixelated Memories - Nizamuddin Dargah
3. Pixelated Memories - Qutb Complex
4. Pixelated Memories - Tarikh-ul-Islam Mosque