Pixelated Memories: Mehrauli

Showing posts with label Mehrauli. Show all posts

May 16, 2016

Dadabari Jain Temple, Mehrauli, Delhi

“No man can encompass all that is to be known. The wisest among us can hold no more than a mustard seed’s weight of knowledge in his heart. But nevertheless each follower of the path has his own particular understanding, and each person’s understanding has value.”

– Thalassa Ali, “Companions of Paradise” (2006)

The streets blistered and roasted like fiery furnaces and not the slightest draught stirred, while the sun, an insufferable ball of fire in the clear sky, transformed into intense searing white and ceaselessly endeavored to incinerate all existence. It was a day not unlike any other in Delhi’s scorching summer.

Amidst the multitudes of singed brown-green hues of Mehrauli Archaeological Park manifests mirage-like Dadabari Jain temple – dedicated to the erudite Jain mystic-saint Manidhari Dada Gurudeva Sri Jinachandra Suri ji – whose flawless white profile unfailingly soothes dreary eyes and beckons fatigued souls.

Jewel in the wilderness

At the very outset, I insist that only believers read on, and skeptics and cynics skip these few paragraphs.

A prodigious scholar, inquisitive philosopher and excellent social reformer, Sri Jinachandra Suri, born Surya Kumar in AD 1140, is said to have renounced the comforts of conventional life at the tender age of 6 years, and thereafter arduously trained and distinguished himself in Jain religious philosophy and metaphysics.

He compiled numerous scholarly tomes on comparative religious theology and spirituality, and soon afterwards became so illustriously renowned that he was entrusted by Acharya Gurudeva Jindutta Suri ji, his transcendentally accomplished spiritual mentor, with delivering intellectual spiritual discourses on religious mysticism, universal brotherhood and philanthropic magnanimity throughout the country.

Although Acharya Jindutta and he himself had prophesied his arrival and subsequent demise in Yoginipur (Delhi), he nonetheless resolved to temporarily reside in the province to discourse on religious equality, tolerance and amicability upon receiving deferential invitations from the sovereign Raja Madanpal Tomar.

Inviting

During his residence in Yoginipur, he is said to have also commissioned a beautiful temple, dedicated to the legendary twenty-third Tirthankara Parshvanatha (BC 872-772), at the present-day site of the Qutb Complex (refer Pixelated Memories - Qutb Complex).

At the age of 26, prompted by clairvoyant visions only slightly prior to his mournful demise, he resolutely cautioned his emotionally-besieged disciples to not stop his funeral procession anywhere except where they wished to cremate his earthly remains, for if they did they would never be able to relocate his body again. Fatigued and desirous of allowing fellow devotees to pay their last respects and condolences for the demised, the faithful followers carrying the funeral pyre did however stop in the village square and, as portended, failed to move the remains again! Reminiscent of the childish tale of Humpty-Dumpty, subsequently the king’s soldiers, horses and even elephants are said to have failed in their endeavors to budge him, and thus was Dada Gurudeva ji cremated on that very spot and a commemorative shrine reverentially constructed over the consecrated site.

Blinding!

Additionally, it’s said that he had also portended that the sacred site where he’d be cremated shall remain barren for 800 years, and indeed a magnificent shrine was only consecrated here in late 19th-century. Repeatedly embellished and reconstructed since, an intricately ornamented silver-and-glass memorial gracefully protrudes over the hallowed site today, symmetrically enveloped by covered walkways for faithful devotees to circumambulate.

Only a stone’s throw away, the massive central shrine is elegantly fabricated of exquisitely sculpted white marble. Within, the glittering glimmering sanctum is in its entirety composed of a spellbinding agglomeration of meticulously reverse-painted glass shards whose myriad shimmering hues compliment and yet jostle with each other for visual supremacy amidst a whole that remarkably, without being even in the slightest bit incongruous or disproportionate, succeeds in delineating several visual depictions of Jain mythological fables and remembrances of Dada Gurudeva’s enthralling, albeit possibly highly embellished, life and times. As the photographs here testimony, magnificently does the whole chamber metamorphose, upon incidence of even the minutest sliver of sunlight, into an extraordinarily effervescent explosion of vivacious colors.

One from the folklore

Perhaps endeavoring to plagiarize the spatial scheme of the venerable Parasnatha Hill in Jharkhand (at least to me it appeared so!), adjacently has been conceived a large artificial hillock whose constricted veins secure a labyrinthine network of tiny interconnected cell-like sanctuaries, each individually dedicated to Jain mendicant-teachers and Tirthankars (lit., “ford-maker”, omniscient spiritual teachers who attained liberty from the terrible cycle of rebirths and worldly attachment by fierce contemplative meditation, unremitting emphasis on non-violence, and the renunciation of worldly relationships and responsibilities).

Though the shimmering vividness of the shrine’s reverse-painted glass art might be commonplace in most north Indian Jain/Hindu temples, yet given its impeccable history and the singular network of shrines defining the artificial hill, it is surprising that not many are aware of the existence of this multicolored sparkle enveloped within its soothing white cocoon adjacent the perceptibly interminable wilderness of Mehrauli Archaeological Park.

Cherubs, blossoms and wreaths - Unusual for a Jain shrine!

In every direction one turns to are located innumerable medieval monuments and devoutly revered shrines, some world-renowned, others even more disappointingly obscure. The simplistic yet alluring Madhi Masjid is barely a stone's throw away (refer Pixelated Memories - Madhi Masjid). More prominent is Ahinsa Sthal, another Jain shrine, and its neighbor mausoleum of Azim Khan, both constructed upon adjacently situated towering outcrops appealingly overlooking the green-brown expanse of Mehrauli (refer Pixelated Memories - Ahinsa Sthal and Pixelated Memories - Azim Khan's Tomb). No wonder then amidst this deluge of enthralling ruins and forgotten monuments, the Dadabari is only half-remembered and occasionally frequented.

Open: All days, sunrise to sunset

Nearest Metro station: Qutb Minar

How to reach: The temple is located in a nondescript street on the other side of Mehrauli-Gurgaon highway immediately opposite the metro station. If coming by bus, get down at Lado Serai crossing (at the junction of Mehrauli-Gurgaon and Mehrauli-Badarpur highways) and walk for barely half a kilometer to reach the metro station.

Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: 45 min

Note: Footwear isn’t allowed within the temple complex and can be deposited at the small kiosk across the road from the entrance.
Relevant links -
Other monuments/landmarks located in the immediate vicinity -

November 27, 2015

Jahaz Mahal and Hauz-i-Shamsi, Mehrauli, Delhi

“Dilli jo ek sheher tha alam me intekhab, rehte the muntakhib hi jahan rozgaar ke

Jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, Hum rehne wale hain usi ujde dayar ke”

“Delhi, that singularly celebrated city where lived only the remarkable few of their time

Fate has devastated and rendered it deserted, I belong to that very destroyed city.”

– Mir Taqi Mir, renowned Urdu poet (lived 1725-1810)

Jahaz Mahal - An enigmatic ship washed ashore

Despite the viciously bone-chilling, teeth-clattering cold they invoke, winters in Delhi, merciless in their extortion and cruelty, can occasionally be tremendously heartwarming (pardon the expression!) – the otherwise vibrant, perennially overcrowded landscape transmogrifies into a chillingly bleak and thoroughly deserted ghost city colonized by such impenetrably dense fog that early morning one cannot see the buildings across the road, conducive of course to steal a few quick smooches from one’s sweetheart as I have often been guilty of. The chance appearance of minute slivers of warm sunshine are merrily greeted by the entire neighborhood – the infirm elderly quickly rush out to catch up on the gossip, the effusively cheerful children skip and run about, the slightly older ones calmly settle down in the verandahs and balconies with books and earphones and, not to be left behind, the resourceful homemakers too instantaneously bring out the vegetables and fruits that they are to shred and dice and gleefully spend extra minutes bargaining and (often unnecessarily) scolding the “reri-wallahs” (fruit-vegetable sellers, recyclemen, garbage collectors, papad-wallahs and the likes), an ancient convention which they would have otherwise rudely interrupted to rush back into the mellow warmth of the house.

The irony, the religious hypocrisy! - Hauz Shamsi and the sandstone pavilion enshrined with Buraq's sacred hoofprint

Engaged in a losing skirmish with these infinitesimal rays of sunshine, the universally abhorred forces of impermeable fog hastily call a temporary retreat only to regroup and reappear later around dusk, in the meanwhile leaving behind only a few scattered wisps sentinel-like hanging about keeping eagle-eyed watches over the larger lakes and hyacinth-shrouded water bodies. No mist however hangs over Hauz-i-Shamsi – where there once was a huge artificial lake exclusively encircled by luxuriant pleasure pavilions, vibrant orchards and manicured gardens, today is an uneven crater bursting with stinking murky water capped with plastic garbage, rotten organic rubbish and human and animal excreta enclosed by a vast contour-less plain where can be spotted even more of this malodorous waste in addition to putrid animal carcasses and shards of beer bottles! Disappointingly, reality, in this case, does not even come close to holding a candle to mythical legends.

According to popular folklore, 1230 years following the crucifixion of Christ, two men dreamt the same lucid dream – the Prophet Muhammad, seated on Buraq, the celestial winged steed with a head that instantaneously transformed from that of a heavenly horse to a glorious woman and back, beckoned them to follow and thus quickly traversed several miles. Suddenly halting, the otherworldly Buraq kicked the ground with its muscular foreleg and immediately erupted there an immense fountain of sparkling clear water.

Not a drop to drink!

Now these two men could be any ordinary persons living anywhere, but they weren’t – they happened to be the legendary Chishti Sufi saint Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki and Sultan-i-Azam Shamshuddin Waddin Abul Muzaffar Iltutmish (reign AD 1211-36), the emperor of Hindustan, and being incredibly pious men they decided that the formidable Sultan must set out with his entire immense retinue to determine if the dream was indeed prophetic. Intriguingly, some distance away from the regal citadel was discovered the hoof print of the mighty Buraq and thus resolved, the Sultan instantaneously issued a royal decree to commission an immense tank, christened “Hauz-i-Shamsi” (“Shamshuddin’s tank”), encompassing as its centerpiece a small domed pavilion conceived around the stone slab bearing the celestial hoof print thus preserved for posterity. Drinkable water supply then being terribly acute, the blessed water, besides being religiously venerated, was immediately drawn via terracotta canals and pipelines to supply the thriving residential enclaves within the medieval fortress of Qila Rai Pithora and later Tughlaqabad (refer Pixelated Memories - Qila Rai Pithora and Pixelated Memories - Tughlaqabad Fortress complex). Unbelievable now, considering the present insufferable levels of pollution!

Blues and reds

During the architecturally glorious reign of the Lodi Dynasty (AD 1451-1526), a magnificent floating pavilion accessible by a large causeway was constructed along the peripheries of the majestic tank divinely thus ordained and regally thus patronized – referred to as “Jahaz Mahal” (“Ship Pavilion”) on account of it being immediately reminiscent of an enormous ship gracefully floating on the brilliant blue waters underneath, the graceful retreat was envisaged as a transit accommodation (“serai”/inn) to serve devout pilgrims from central Asia and Europe arriving in Delhi to visit its numerous, devoutly worshiped Islamic shrines and accordingly is composed of numerous individual chambers tastefully designed and opulently adorned. Later it was repaired by the Sultans Alauddin Khilji (reign AD 1296-1316) and Feroz Shah Tughlaq (reign AD 1351-88) and was eventually refurbished to function as an ornamental pleasure pavilion for the last Mughal emperors Akbar Shah II (reign AD 1806-37) and Mirza Abu Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah “Zafar” II (reign AD 1837-57).

Relics from an age long gone - A ruined chamber (mausoleum?) in the vicinity of Jahaz Mahal

Rendered visually imposing by the employment of massive square chattris (umbrella domes surmounted on slender pillars) and conical buttress corner towers, the gorgeous palatial edifice possesses a U-shaped layout arranged around a large central courtyard (where presently are organized the extravagant cultural and literary celebrations associated with the annual “Phoolwalon ki Sair” aka “Sair-i-Gulfaroshan” festival) and is much embellished with Persian glazed blue and white tiles, multi-patterned alcoves, numerous pointed arches, staggered cross-shaped decorative depressions and ornamental embossment facades. An odd octagonal chattri crowns the mihrab (western wall of a religious/funerary structure indicating the direction of Mecca, faced by Muslims while offering namaz prayers) distinguished by the fixation of white (now yellowish) tiles.

Long gone is the celebrated age when come monsoons the infinite expanse around the hallowed Hauz was rendered marvelously enthralling by flowering shrubs that would blossom overnight and hundreds of species of multi-hued butterflies romanced midair under the immense canopy of the crookedly gnarled branches of the massive trees peppering the entire verdant landscape; the earth reeked of the mesmerizing post-rain fragrance while good-naturedly querulous birds flitted from branch to another just as the hundreds of magical glittering glimmering dragonflies skimmed the surface of the numerous runoff-collecting tanks and natural water bodies; magnificently-plumed peacocks and spellbinding docile deer freely roamed about, defeated only in numbers by the gently-cooing pigeons and flawless white doves quietly making love against the vibrant red sandstone of the monuments that littered around. The lavish retinues, of Mughal emperors and British officials alike, would lugubriously encamp here and reverberate even till wee hours of the starlit mornings recounting tales of hunts past and phantoms and banshees, interspersed only by fierce drinking bouts and delightful musical and dance soirees set in rhythm with the heavenly descent of torrential rain and thunderous streaks of fearsome lightning.

Forgotten history? - An undocumented medieval mosque across the road from Jahaz Mahal

The sacred tank has been ignominiously reduced to less than a quarter of its original proportions and the preserved hoof print of the mythological Buraq too has been removed even though the twelve-pillared sandstone pavilion constructed to encompass it still exists buoyed in an ever-multiplying stream of foul-smelling garbage and excreta. Even the geographical continuity amongst the numerous medieval mosques and unusual mausoleums that mushroomed around the Hauz on account of its legendary sacredness has been ruthlessly shattered by malignant slum encroachment and extraordinarily ill-planned urban development – the Lal Masjid (“Red Mosque”) nearby, possibly a Lodi-era monument judging from its numerous ornamental features and architectural innovations including melon-like fluted corner towers and painstakingly embellished protruding central mihrab, has been redeveloped on all sides and converted into a grotesque multistoried brick-and-cement residential-cum-religious edifice, its singular domes and the slender minarets too waiting to be assimilated within this tasteless monstrosity but seemingly spared for the time being to herald its regal antiquity. Come to think of it, substitute the domed corner towers with low rectangular buildings and the wall mosque would almost visually resemble its cousin Madhi Masjid, distant both in terms of geographical separation and state of conservation and restoration (refer Pixelated Memories - Madhi Masjid).

Lost in a deluge of encroachments - Lal Masjid across the road from Jahaz Mahal

Another substantially huge medieval mosque, fitted with glass windows and iron grilles and alienated from the pleasure palace by a road stretched like an evil serpent between the two, has been entirely engulfed in an all-pervading deluge of encroachment and even the narrow mausoleums adjoining it have been bricked up and converted into makeshift residences!

“More than his (Sultan Iltutmish’s) wars or his conquests, it is with the water supply he has built for the people of Delhi that he has won his place in heaven!”

– Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (lived AD 1238-1325)

Sultan Iltutmish, Hazrat Qutbuddin and Hazrat Nizamuddin have been long deceased and their mortal constructions and conceptions shall too follow soon, murdered by the so-called educated intellectuals and civic planners who have irredeemably failed to preserve traditional water management techniques while simultaneously failing to adopt to rapidly evolving climatic and geographical realities and pressures. Why still do the educationalists insist on reminiscing about baolis (step-wells), artificial tanks, bunds (embankments) and surakhs (water tunnels) in CBSE primary school textbooks is perplexingly incomprehensible!

Towering - A lone mausoleum adjoining the aforementioned undocumented medieval mosque

Location: Mehrauli village (Coordinates: 28°30'51.5"N 77°10'42.7"E)

Nearest Metro station: Both Qutb Minar and Chattarpur stations are approximately 1.5 kilometers away

Nearest Bus stop: Mehrauli terminal, approximately 1.2 kilometers away

How to reach: Walk/avail a rickshaw from the bus stop or walk/avail an auto from the metro stations. The locals can easily supply the requisite directions.
Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: 45 min
Relevant links -
Other monuments/landmarks located in the vicinity -

Suggested reading -

September 10, 2015

Adham Khan's Tomb and Mehrauli PHC, Delhi

“Through me the way is to the city dolent; Through me the way is to the eternal dole;

Through me the way among the people lost;

Justice incited my sublime Creator; Created me divine Omnipotence,

the highest Wisdom and the primal Love;

Before me there were no created things, Only eterne, and I eternal last.
All hope abandon, ye who enter!”

– Dante Alighieri, 13th-century Italian poet, “Inferno”

Regarded as the oldest continuously inhabited area in the entire city, Mehrauli can be unquestionably considered as an unbelievable visual confluence of unimaginably desolate medieval monuments and a rapid groundswell of burgeoning urbanization and shimmering modernization engaged in a mighty clash so extraordinarily slow progressed that compared to the rest of the cityscape this entire area literally appears to have been transformed into a photographic frame struck in time eons ago allowing viewers a brief, uninterrupted glimpse into the idyllic life that was without any pretensions of relentless concrete and cement development, obnoxious pollution and miserable deforestation.

Behold enormity! - The mausoleum of Maham Anga and Adham Khan

Scattered around the area are hundreds of monuments – some exceedingly beautifully ornamented, some painstakingly perched upon high near-unpassable eyries, some quite humiliatingly submerged underneath an onslaught of years of accumulated stinking sludge and everyday excreta, some unassuming edifices relatively well-maintained either by the government or a religious organization as a ruin of heritage importance or a sacred shrine or a commemorative edifice, and lastly, a few depressingly decrepit monuments taken over by the local community which, like the dedicated memory of ancient days, continue to function as community centers where locals would everyday converge and share gossip of daily business and happenings occurring in the neighborhood. In this part of the country, opposite Mehrauli bus terminal, different facets of everyday life, the different modes, the different professions can be discerned in the very streets – anticipating business and cursing the sweltering summer heat or the biting winter cold, there are the fruit and vegetable sellers, the flowers and garland sellers, the plumbers, laborers, electricians, masons, the cigarette and betel leave sellers, the beggars, the eunuchs, the rickshaw drivers, the street cleaners, the garbage collectors, the prostitutes, the pimps, the policemen and the pickpockets, the unemployed, the old and the disabled, the ear cleaners, the car washers, the laundrymen and the newspaper men – one can see each of them, attired and arrayed in the bustling, perennially crowded marketplace.

Painted perfection!

Magnificently protruding from the ground like a massive towering overlord, overlooking this continuous flow of people and professions for the past half a millennium, is the visually prominent enormous cream-white mausoleum of Mirza Adham Khan, a foster brother of the Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Akbar (reign AD 1556-1605), whose life seems so incorrigibly entwined with that of numerous other protagonists interred in different parts of the graceful city that his tale, despite its emotionally disturbing and barbaric overtones, is unarguably one of the most frequently heard. Adham Khan and Quli Khan (also buried nearby, refer Pixelated Memories - Quli Khan's Tomb) were the adored sons of Maham Anga, the favored foster mother of the Emperor. Much to Maham Anga's undisguised chagrin, the Emperor immensely respected Shamshuddin Atgah Khan, the husband of his other foster mother Jiji Anga, sought his opinion in all important decisions and in AD 1562 raised him to the coveted position of “Wakil” (“Chief Minister”) thereby allowing him to investigate and document the military excesses and financial embezzlement perpetrated by Adham as an army General – infuriated, the latter brutally murdered Atgah Khan in cold blood and then, blinded alike with fury and fear of the consequences of his unsavory actions, burst upon the bewildered Emperor with his sword unsheathed, prompting the infuriated Emperor to immediately have him arrested and thrown down the ramparts of his fortress in Agra, twice for good measure – several historians argue that the incensed Emperor, thus provoked and yet grievously confused since Adham was his own esteemed milk-brother, himself threw him down to ensure his immediate demise.

Sigh! When will this city ever learn?

This however wasn’t the first time that the uncontrollable Adham had got into administrative and disciplinary troubles with the Emperor – legend has it that it that when the Emperor’s armies led by his valiant generals were furthering his expansionist policies and annexing small kingdoms in different parts of the country, Adham would capture a territory for him and enslave all the women in the captured land to add them to his own harem – such was his terror that women in the conquered kingdoms preferred to commit suicide rather than face him. Predictably, he invaded the kingdom of Malwa in central India under the Emperor’s banner, massacred its armies and killed the king Baz Bahadur (literally “Brave Hawk”) – however, before he could touch their Queen Roopmati with whom he had fallen in love, she committed suicide (“Jauhar”) by jumping into the pyre lit for her husband’s cremation – furious and desirous of vengeance, Adham unleashed a vicious pogrom and killed hundreds of innocent inhabitants of Malwa until the Emperor was forced to himself march to Malwa with a large army led by Azim Khan, another of his numerous mighty Generals (also buried nearby, refer Pixelated Memories - Azim Khan's Tomb), to subdue Adham who was then defeated, ordered not to lead any military campaigns in the near future and his territorial and executive powers curtailed for a period of time. Killing Atgah Khan however was to be the last indiscretion on the part of Adham – neither filial love nor the unmatched influence of his ambitious mother could save him from the Emperor’s wrath.

Dominating Delhi's skyline - Qutb Minar

Bereaved beyond measure and consolation despite putting up a brave front (she notably exclaimed to the Emperor “You have done well” when he recounted to her the events leading to Adham’s gruesome execution), Maham Anga, whose health was already failing for the past several months, too died mere forty days later pining for her treasured son and the guilt-ridden Emperor was therefore prompted to order the construction of the enormous mausoleum that was to entomb both mother and son. Atgah Khan, of course, was posthumously bestowed with the title of “martyr” and interred in a delicately beautiful mausoleum close to the Dargah of the 14th-century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and the breathtaking magnificent mausoleum of Emperor Humayun (refer Pixelated Memories - Atgah Khan's Tomb, Pixelated Memories - Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah and Pixelated Memories - Humayun's Tomb complex). Adham however was labelled an unfaithful traitor and buried in far-flung Mehrauli in an octagonal mausoleum reminiscent of the architectural style of the numerous dynasties of Delhi Sultanate who preceded the nearly uninterrupted 330-year Mughal reign – the close proximity to the Dargah of the 13th-century Sufi saint Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki was to be his lone concession (refer Pixelated Memories - Hazrat Bakhtiyar Kaki's Dargah).

A touch of ornamentation

The whole structure rises from an immense plinth delineated at the corners by octagonal bastions with enough space within them for several people to stand in shoulder-to-shoulder. The fortified walls of the thick-set plinth and the bastions bear traces of exquisite ornamentation, primarily strips of red sandstone sculpted into scrolls of floral patterns and flourishes which have somehow survived the ravages of time and nature. The octagonal mausoleum, vertically exceedingly prominent relative to its architecturally similar predecessors, is externally very minimally ornamented with just the bare minimum of traces of adornment – plasterwork medallions composed of inscribed calligraphy and floral decorations, unaesthetically thick tapering turrets protruding from the corners of each of the sides of the octagonal structure as well as the sixteen-sided drum (base) of the colossal dome, decorative “kangura” patterns (battlement-like leaf motif ornamentation) and an unusually pointed, highly polished glittering red sandstone finial crowning the apex. The cream-white thick walls, plastered over in tatters wretchedly revealing the layers of red-grey bricks underneath (despite being very recently conserved and restored (re-plastered) on the occasion of the 19th Commonwealth Games (CWG XIX 2010)), are buttressed for structural stability and surrounded on every side by an exceptionally wide colonnaded passageway that visually lends the entire structure a discernibly squat appearance despite its perpendicular towering existence. The interiors are unbelievably straightforward – a single, unprepossessing narrow gravestone, positioned thus sometime in the last century itself (on the orders of the Viceroy Lord Curzon who initiated restoration and conservation of numerous monuments throughout the country during his viceregal reign (1899-1905)), marks the location of Adham’s mortal remains, nothing however indicates that Maham Anga too was buried here – overhead, an ethereally beautiful painted medallion in blues, reds and blacks scatters an otherworldly artistic luminescence.

Symmetrically ungainly! So unlike the other Mughal edifices!

In every other direction, the local vandals have resorted to beautifying the mausoleum by inscribing it with nonsensical chalk pattern designs and heartfelt love letters. From past the limitless sea composed of the crowns and tresses of hundreds of thousands of vibrant green trees comprising the ridge forest extending immediately beyond the mausoleum’s peripheries, the richly illustrated towering Qutb Minar (refer Pixelated Memories - Qutb Minar) sternly overlooks the cruel desecration of the punitive sepulcher of the equally ferocious General. Legend goes that before her demise, Queen Roopmati had thus cursed Adham Khan that never a woman shall visit his grave or risk being harshly rendered devoid of conjugal happiness throughout her life – the mausoleum is however conspicuously distinguished today as a fascinating exemplar of a local community center regularly frequented by hordes of schoolchildren lolling their time after school, near-continuously chattering girls gossiping in rapid-fire Hindi amongst themselves, old men and women dressed in flawless white mumbling to themselves and the occasional camera-toting tourists – the curse and the numerous assertions of the monument being terrifyingly haunted seem to have been irreversibly forgotten, remembered only in folktales and contemporaneous historical accounts – perhaps a consequence of the burial of the doting Maham Anga with her cherished, although often wayward, son? Locals nonetheless do warn visitors to not stay overnight inside the mausoleum.

Serving the dead and the living - Mehrauli Primary Health Center

In vernacular parlance, the mausoleum is referred to as a “Bhool Bhulaiyya” (“Impenetrable Maze”) – some say it’s because its thick walls possess unfathomably convoluted passages amongst themselves, especially along the first floor, others say it’s because members of a marriage retinue explicably lost their way in the forest beyond its extremities never to be found again – though somehow I seem to have missed witnessing these passages, I’m nonetheless more inclined to side with the second opinion since the first seems too unbelievably far-fetched and also one has to take into consideration that at one point in its history, early 19th-century to be exact, the mausoleum was desecrated and converted into a country residence by Major Blake of the Bengal (British) Civil Services who had, enchanted by the subdued magnificence and unperturbed by the macabre stories pertaining to the personalities interred within, demolished the graves and installed comfortable beds and dining tables in their place. Incredibly afterwards, the structure bewilderingly served in the unusual capacities of an army guesthouse, a police station and a post office! Of course, Major Blake wouldn’t have chosen to reside in a labyrinthine maze, nor could have been a guesthouse/police station/post office run from such perplexing a premises.

Interestingly enough, this was not the only monumental edifice thus violated and recycled for worldly purposes inherently different from those that it was originally conceived to serve – couple of meters from the mausoleum exist two small monuments – a miserably crumbling pink-red mosque possessing a very finely-proportioned onion dome and a curious yellow mausoleum that from its distinctive appearance is discernible to belong to the short-lived Lodi Dynasty reign (AD 1451-1526) – while the former, wretchedly decrepit and thoroughly ruined, has been converted to a residence, the latter officially functions since the early 1930s in the governmental capacity of Mehrauli Primary Health Center (PHC) managed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)!

Commemorating forgotten history?

Additional chambers have been constructed around the original structure of the PHC and drenched in coats of blindingly brilliant yellow paint; verandahs shielded from the elements by wide corrugated iron sheet eaves (“chajja”) and lined with stone benches for patients and their relatives to sit on run around it and its exterior walls have been faced with grotesque white bathroom tiles – in its entirety, the picture of a shameful transformation and more significantly an unabashed contempt for architectural heritage and landmarks. Like the medieval monument, the desolate walls encompassing it were also once painted sunshine yellow like the structures they enclose, but presently reveal almost a rainbow spectrum of multicolored flourishes – yellowish-orange where the paint is still retained albeit discolored and darkened over time, green-grey where it has been entirely obliterated and compelled to reveal the layers of cement underneath, brown-red where the bricks peep through and bluish black-green where strands of moss have colonized the surface. A marble memorial tablet embedded in the wall notes –

“From the Zails of Mehrauli and Badarpur, 1261 men went to The Great War (1914-1919). Of these, 92 gave up their lives.”

(Zail – A revenue unit employed to demarcate areas during the British reign (AD 1857-1947))

So unsettlingly ironic is the British concept of historicity and commemorative remembrance that they had the temerity to inscribe an epigraph to themselves and their wars on the walls of a monument they unflinchingly overtook and mutated thus. This then is perhaps the “Kali Yuga” (“Age of Decay and Obliteration”) the Hindus refer to!

Squalor and decay!

Location: Immediately opposite Mehrauli bus terminal
Nearest metro station: Both Qutb Minar station and Saket station are equidistant.
Nearest Bus stop: Mehrauli
How to reach: Take a bus from the either of the metro stations to Mehrauli. Adham Khan's tomb is opposite the bus terminal and the PHC monument is barely couple of meters away.
Open: All days, sunrise to sunset
Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Relevant Links -
Edifices in Delhi associated with Adham Khan and his family -

Pixelated Memories - Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque (built by Maham Anga)
Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Azim Khan (who defeated Adham Khan at Malwa)
Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Quli Khan (Adham Khan's brother)

Edifices in Delhi associated with Atgah Khan and his family -

Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Atgah Khan
Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan (Atgah Khan's son-in-law)
Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Mirza Aziz Kokaltash (Atgah Khan's son)

Other monuments located in the immediate vicinity of Adham Khan's Tomb -

Suggested reading -

May 23, 2015

Lodi-era Tomb, Lado Serai, Delhi

“We will be remembered only if we give to our younger generation a prosperous and safe India, resulting out of economic prosperity coupled with civilizational heritage.”

– APJ Abdul Kalam, former President

The gorgeously ornamented, perfectly proportioned and painstakingly restored Lodi-era (AD 1451-1517) mausoleum conspicuously located at Lado Serai where intersect the arterial Mehrauli-Badarpur and Mehrauli-Gurgaon highways had long evaded me, that is until I discovered it – or rather fellow writer Rangan Datta (blogs at rangandatta.wordpress.com), who accompanied me in this particular explorative sojourn to the ancient settlement at Mehrauli village, intuitively discovered it. In retrospection, it undoubtedly perplexes me that I had earlier embarrassingly failed to locate this tiny monument so prominently situated, and I can only ashamedly cite the overshadowing presence of massive ancient trees with huge gnarled branches and immeasurably dense foliage that shields the strikingly elegant edifice from the prickly prying eyes of the ceaseless riverine flow of heavy traffic and pedestrians along these immense multilane avenues.

Delhi's secret

Although exceedingly unremarkable in terms of architectural features and artistic adornments, especially vis-à-vis the grander, extravagantly adorned monuments that gracefully litter every single section of Delhi’s vast undulating landscape, the heartwarming little mausoleum does proudly display the telltale Lodi-era architectural accomplishments – dexterously conceived and executed plasterwork medallions, precisely delineated “Kangura” patterns (battlement-like leitmotif ornamentation), splendidly tapering slender decorative minarets, a remarkable emphasis on flawless symmetry and proportionality of spatial dimensions and, the most visually alluring of all, the employment of vibrant violet-blue glazed tiles handsomely contrasting against the overall weathered red-brown hue and the resilient coarseness of texture. Inside, the mihrab (western wall of a religious/funerary structure indicating the direction of Mecca, faced by the faithful while offering namaz prayers) is envisaged as a thoroughly-detailed kaleidoscopic pattern culminating into an alluring extravaganza of geometric and floral patterns, exquisite calligraphy and meticulously intricate circular medallions. The life history and administrative/regal station of the miniature mausoleum’s original occupant are not recorded in contemporary historical epitaphs and literary documents, however till very recently, the lovely edifice was horrifically utilized by avaricious, land-starved locals as a storehouse and a motor garage!

Kaleidoscopic!

Nearby, progressively collapsing to wretched obliteration is a derelict wall fragment adorned with ornamental kangura patterns and pointed-arch openings – perhaps a supplementary freestanding qibla (same as a mihrab) – it is worth pondering over that the Indian National Trust for Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) who undertook the conservation-restoration of the diminutive mausoleum and horticulturally developed the grass-shrouded stretch of land around it into “Gumbad Park” to beautify it on the occasion of Commonwealth Games (CWG XIX 2010) skipped this crumbling wall fragment. Some aesthetic-minded inhabitants of this ancient city still romantically prefer derelict ruins over painstakingly restored monuments that would withstand the relentless ravages of the elements for several successive generations. A pity, ironically so considering that it lies in the immediate vicinity of the majestically soaring Qutb Minar, Delhi’s most well preserved and regularly monitored monument!

Colors and patterns

Location: Approximately 250 meters from Lado Serai intersection towards Badarpur (Coordinates: 28°31'24.2"N 77°11'31.8"E)
Nearest Metro station: Saket (approximately 1 kilometer away)
Nearest Bus stop: Lado Serai crossing
Nearest Railway station: Tughlaqabad
How to reach: All buses plying on Mehrauli-Badarpur and Mahipalpur-Gurgaon roads stop at Lado Serai crossing. Walk/avail a bus/auto from Saket or Qutb Minar metro stations.
Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: 20 min
Other monuments/landmarks located in the immediate vicinity -

September 29, 2014

Gandhak ki Baoli, Mehrauli Archaeological Park, Delhi

A few posts ago, I wrote an article pertaining to Rajon ki Baoli in Mehrauli Archaeological Park (Pixelated Memories - Rajon ki Baoli). Continuing with the thread, we head to Gandhak ki Baoli located not very far from the former at the periphery of the park and demarcating the vast complex from the congested, overcrowded Mehrauli village. The easiest way to reach the baoli therefore is not through the forested archaeological complex stuffed with thorny shambles and dense overgrowth, but from the outside – simply walk from Adham Khan’s tomb/Mehrauli bus terminal towards the adjacent shrines dedicated to Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki and Sardar Banda Bahadur (the nondescript route is indicated by numerous markers and painted signage along the road), the baoli is only a couple of meters from the bus terminal along the route. In a commentary on the neglect on the part of authorities towards this beautiful medieval structure, though there are direction markers leading to the shrines, there are none indicating the presence of the baoli.

Containing water rich in sulphur ("gandhak") that is considered beneficial for skin ailments, the baoli was constructed during the reign of Sultan Shamshuddin Iltutmish (AD 1296-1316) – one belief is that the Sultan himself swiftly commissioned the baoli when he arrived uninvited to Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki’s monastery and learnt that the saint, not being able to avail potable water for the purposes of bathing and ablutions, was forced to remain in a disheveled and unwashed state. The unadorned structure possesses five levels and diminishes in thickness as it descends deeper underground in order to withstand the increased subterranean pressure. The two monotonously plain arms of the baoli are composed of rough rubble and stone; simplistic narrow walkways define the boundary between the successively less wider levels and there are neither chambers circumambulating the structure nor alcoves ornamenting the surface as is the case with most baolis throughout the city. Only the topmost level displays a rudimentary cloistered area utilizing thin pillars that are reminiscent of pillars observed in the nearby Qutb complex (refer Pixelated Memories - Qutb Complex) that were derived from Hindu and Jain shrines for the construction of Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque; the lower levels display just two pillars demarcating the wall that separates the baoli tank from the well shaft behind. Despite its location in a naturally arid region unable to retain monsoonal overflow, the baoli continues to remain brimming with cool water for a major part of the year – in fact, though I visited the monument in scorching June and July, it was filled with water till just below its topmost level and local children were diving from the terraces into the tank. The splash of divers, combined with the laughter and shrieks of kids and the shouts of the elders sitting along the stairs and exchanging everyday news and gossip, is indescribable since it immediately transports an onlooker to a time framed eight centuries ago when the baoli was constructed since the scene hasn’t changed at all since then. This is one baoli that, true to its original purpose, continues to function as a venue for social congregations while providing respite from the sweltering heat.

Water, water everywhere

The baoli has not remained untouched by the urbanization pressure exerted by an ever expanding congested neighborhood and while its periphery has been wedged in by high iron railings, the entire area around has been engulfed by thickly populated residences and shanties – notwithstanding the important legislation prohibiting construction activities in a 100 meter radius around a monument, the baoli’s backyard has been taken over by a slum and commercial establishments are being ominously raised and run along the road snaking adjacent to the baoli unmindful of its historicity or heritage value. Though Delhi High Court severely reprimanded the municipal authorities and police way back in March 2014 on account of their failure to curb construction activities, I noted buildings coming up and being renovated immediately opposite the baoli as late as July 2014. As it is, the baoli already remains dry part of the year and is experiencing a decrement in its water level on account of the relentless massive water supply requirement of the local population, the construction work further compounds the problem many fold and endangers the baoli structure. It would be a major loss if the neglected baoli is any further damaged – the serene experience of being magically transported back in time and being alienated from the noise and commotion that ensues outside the enclosure is simply otherworldly and would be hard to replicate if this majestic 800-year old water monument is lost. There was a era long gone by when divers would jump in the water chasing after the coins thrown by visitors – that age is never coming again given Delhi’s depleted water table and the impossibility of reviving it; hope we don’t reach a situation in the future when people rue the absence of water in the baoli.

And not a drop to drink! (Photo courtesy - Wikimedia.org)

Sincerest thanks to Rangan Datta, a very warm person and an amazing blogger chronicling Calcutta's culture and monuments (Rangandatta.wordpress.com) for visiting the Mehrauli area with me and helping explore almost a dozen monuments, including this baoli.

Location: Mehrauli Archaeological Park
Open: All days, Sunrise to Sunset
Entrance Fees: Nil
Nearest Bus stop: Lado Serai
Nearest Metro Station: Saket
How to Reach: The Archaeological Park's entrance is immediately opposite Lado Serai bus stop and at the intersection of Mehrauli-Badarpur and Badarpur-Gurgaon roads. The metro station is further away and one can avail a 10-min bus ride from Saket to Lado Serai. Sandstone markers indicate the routes to different monuments inside the park.
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: Approx. 20 min
Note – There are no facilities (toilets, food or drinking water) available within the Archaeological Park. While you can avail food & refreshments at one of the restaurants at Lado Serai, you can only find toilets at the shopping malls close to Saket Metro Station, almost a kilometre away. The park remains deserted in the evenings and is best avoided then by female enthusiasts.
Other famous baolis in Delhi -

Other monuments within the Archaeological Park premises -

Also located nearby -

Suggested reading -

September 15, 2014

Mughal tombs and Choti Masjid Bagh wali, Mehrauli Archaeological Park, Delhi

"'Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare. The lone and level sands stretch far away."

– Percy B. Shelley, "Ozymandias"

Since I began delving into the world of monuments and architectural heritage, I have come to realize that it is actually the smaller forgotten structures, often reduced to ruins, taken over by dense foliage and emerging from inconsequential locations and ignobly mundane settings, ignored by conservation authorities and untouched by the garish application of plaster and paint that goes about in the name of restoration in our country, that are the most warm and beckoning, throbbing with a plethora of tales regarding their long forgotten past and holding in their decrepit bosoms multitudes of stories and lore regarding the city’s existence and development and their own commissioning and construction. Nowhere is this bizarre anomaly more apparent than in the vast, forested and forgotten Mehrauli Archaeological Park where the trees seem to inch closer as one heads deeper underneath their canopy and the perennially dry air buzzes with an ominous silence disturbed only by the whistle of wind and occasional footfall of fellow visitors. It isn’t like the entire archaeological complex is bereft of visitors – the local residents come hither in the late afternoon and evening to graze their goats, guards and the rare tourists can often be spotted near the more famous medieval structures like Jamali Kamali complex and Rajon ki Baoli (see links at the end of this post), schoolboys come to play cricket and practice drama plays in the vast, landscaped area around Quli Khan’s beautiful tomb – but except for these, the only company are dogs and birds of several species.

Graceful!

Moving straight within the archaeological complex from the entrance located near Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban’s tomb is a nameless yet bewitching set of ruins, though most will simply look at it as that only – ruins. The semi-buried row of neatly stacked chambers, conjectured to be horse stables, surrounded by a low enclosure wall has always surprised me and made me wonder if it would bear the same charm once it has been dug out of the earth and the piles of heavy stones spread around it removed. I doubt that. I guess once these ruins are subjected to a beautification drive, they would simply become a set of very old rooms, not captivating chambers/stables, much like Balban's tomb complex that now appears as far from original as it could possibly be (refer Pixelated Memories - Balban's Tomb).

Further ahead nearby, in a corner not tread by many, stand two of my favorite tombs – dated to the Mughal-era by the distinctive ornamental features they display, the two stand couple of meters from each other flanked by numerous ruins of undated antiquity on one side and a deep sewage channel (“naala”) on the other. Yes the beautiful oasis has been hijacked by sewer lines and a flood of plastic and polythene; rest assured I do not like the two resilient structures for their surrounding ambiance, (which is poor when most respectably referred to as), but it is the graceful charm, even at being semi-submerged underground, that they exude that attracts me every time I’m at the archaeological park.

Submerged!

The larger of the two has lost most of its decorative adornment, it is this one that is half-buried in earth and located immediately next to the sewage channel – the only features it displays now are remains of calligraphy inscriptions and medallions, two large jharokhas (protruding windows) and kanguras (battlement-like ornamentation) on the exteriors and a fairly well-preserved, though moss layered, roof medallion inside – but seldom does anyone venture within since one is forced to bend pretty low to enter the blocked entrances, moreover piles of garage surround it on every side and thick cobwebs bar entry within.

Post overcoming the the darkness and the strong stench of damp and rot, one can observe that most of the wall and roof surface seems to be draped by layers of moss-like vegetation – the dark is intense and I was forced to switch on the camera flash to click the medallion, though I avoid using flash in monuments since the pigments in natural colors used in such old structures are said to get damaged. The jharokhas are a surprise – though common in palaces, gateways and mosques, they are seldom seen in tombs, in fact this is perhaps the first time am seeing them used thus. Across the sewage channel is Waqf land, belonging to the Muslim administrative body involved with burial land, and a madrasa (Islamic seminary) is run there – it is nobody’s guess how the students manage to fixate their attention on the subjects and the sermons despite the stench they are subjected to. Soon, several students would peep out to observe the stranger with the camera photographing the neighborhood monuments, some would wave, others would point, but none ventures close. Anyway, a metal wire mesh separates the onlookers from the archaeological complex.

Spoiled!

The second, considerably prettier tomb has been recently restored, its walls that were cleaved in two, perhaps by earthquakes, have been sewn together with mortar but left untouched by the plasterwork and paint job – did the conservation authorities want to emphasize the work they undertook? The perfectly square structure possesses stucco medallions, glittering red paintwork on the wall portions above the arched entrances, minarets along the corners of the roof and a well-defined dome seated on a high drum (base); the interiors too display remains of exquisite stucco work, but the entrances have been barred by grilles and locked, the space within being used as a storeroom, a very miserable reflection on the way centuries-old monuments are treated in our country, even by the authorities tasked with conservation and restoration – this is the worst way to conserve a structure, I reckon!

Adjacent to the tomb is the associated wall mosque (“qibla”) that has been recently encroached upon, painted dazzling white and modified to add chambers alongside – now a madrasa is run from within the premises with scant respect for the heritage value of the structure and the exquisite surface ornamentation of the mosque have been assimilated in the madrasa and lost due to excessive plastering over. Peeping from behind the walls are the slender turrets of the mosque and painted in English and Arabic are the name and phone number of the religious instructor and the legend “Choti Masjid Bagh Wali” (“Small mosque in the lawn”), the name with which the structure has now been christened.

A storehouse!

The students there, middle-aged, bearded men, each dressed from head to toe in white, were aggressive regarding the photography prohibition being effected there and refused to allow even a single click. Thankfully, after I reiterated that it is Government land and I am entitled to click and write about the structures here, the person delivering the sermons quickly turned his face away from the camera and left; most of the students though decided it to be an excellent opportunity to pose next to the mosque and get clicked! Perhaps the adamant behavior was caused by the fact that the news about encroachment of the structure and its repainting has splashed in most major newspapers in the city, though there seemed to be no pressure on them of any sort to cease the modification work and vacate the land. I was not allowed to enter the narrow chambers. Given the presence of numerous Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) officials in the park overseeing the restoration-conservation work at nearby monuments, I find it scarcely believable that a monument was hijacked and they did not even have a whiff of it till after rooms were erected next to it!

A wall mosque? Now incorporated within this narrow seminary!

One doesn’t have an option to sit back next to these structures and adore them longingly – at last count there were atleast a hundred monuments (and more being excavated daily) in the complex spread over some 80 acres! With so much to see and click, who has the time to stop and stare – the same archaeological complex, stuffed with scores of structures representing over a millennium of civilization and construction, that magnifies the beauty of the structures hidden in its deep green bosom also makes more apparent the observation that the monuments here are but a transient glimpse in the eyes of the visitor, much like they were drops in the flow of this one millennium.

Once upon a time! (Photo courtesy - Wikipedia.org)

Location: Mehrauli Archaeological Park
Open: All days, sunrise to sunset
Entrance Fees: Nil
Nearest Bus stop: Lado Serai
Nearest Metro Station: Qutb Minar
How to Reach: The Archaeological Park's entrance is immediately opposite Lado Serai bus stop at the intersection of Mehrauli-Badarpur and Badarpur-Gurgaon roads. Walk/avail an auto from Qutb Minar metro station or avail a bus from Saket metro station. Sandstone markers indicate the routes to different monuments inside the park.
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: Approx. 30 min
Note – There are no facilities (toilets, food or drinking water) available within the Archaeological Park. While you can avail food & refreshments at one of the restaurants at Lado Serai, you can only find toilets at the shopping malls close to Saket Metro Station, almost a kilometre away. The park remains deserted in the evenings and is best avoided then by female enthusiasts.
Other monuments within the Archaeological Park premises –

May 16, 2016

Dadabari Jain Temple, Mehrauli, Delhi

November 27, 2015

Jahaz Mahal and Hauz-i-Shamsi, Mehrauli, Delhi

September 10, 2015

Adham Khan's Tomb and Mehrauli PHC, Delhi

May 23, 2015

Lodi-era Tomb, Lado Serai, Delhi

September 29, 2014

Gandhak ki Baoli, Mehrauli Archaeological Park, Delhi

September 15, 2014

Mughal tombs and Choti Masjid Bagh wali, Mehrauli Archaeological Park, Delhi

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