Travel Online Delhi :: General Information
Lesser Known Monuments
Purana
QuilaIn 1538, the Mughal emperor Humayun laid the foundations of his city named Dinpanah, or the Refuge of the Faithful. The inner citadel of this city is today called Purana Qila or the Old Fort. An old fort, it is! One can almost smell the ancient stories oozing from the corners of the fort. The site of the fort was also Indraprasta, the capital of the famed warriors of the Mahabharata, the Pandavas. Excavations near the eastern wall of the fort reveal that the site had been occupied since 1000 B.C. Archaeologists found painted grey ware pottery and other remains, which date back to the Mahabharata. The Purana Qila has three gates - Humayun Darwaza, Talaqi Darwaza and Bara Darwaza. The present entrance is the Bara Darwaza, an imposing red sandstone gate on the western wall. Inside the Purana Qila is the Sher Mandal, a two-storied octagonal pavilion in red sandstone, built by Sher Shah. Humayun used it as a library after he captured the fort. However, the Mandal is tragic, since it was here where the emperor is said to have tripped on its tortuous stairs and tumbled to his death in 1556.
Timings: 6 am to 6 pm
Tickets: Available at the site and Delhi Tourism office
Safdarjung Tomb
The Safdarjang tomb is besides the of Safdarjang airport. This tomb was built by the Nawab of Avadh for his father. The structure is one of the finest example of architecture of its time and tells a saga of the last remnants of a dying empire.
Masjid Moth
Masjid Moth - Once the Historical Monument is now a lesser known monument of Delhi.
The Masjid Moth was built by Wazir Miya Bhoiya, the minister of king Sikander Lodhi, during the 16th century AD. It is located between the present day Uday Park and the South Extension Part II area of South Delhi. There is an interesting story regarding the construction of the mosque. The land on which mosque was built was a forest land.
On one particular day Miya Bhoiya was strolling along with the king when the King suddenly bent down and picked up a grain of lentil or the moth ki dal. The king then presented the grain to his minister, Wazir Miya Bhoiya. Amazed at the gift given to him, the minister accepted it with matching humility and gratitude. On going home, the minister spent the whole night speculating over what should or could be done with the gift that had been bestowed on him by the king. Initially he thought that the grain should be thrown away. He, later, realized that if it were thrown away, then it would amount to disrespect to his king. So he thought of the ways to ensure that it should be protected in the proper manner. As dawn broke, the minister felt that it would be a good idea to plant the grain in his garden, which was quite huge. After that, he sowed the seed in the ground and dug the ground often to check if the seed was intact. He did not have to do it for long as the seedling grew with remarkable speed. In the first year itself, it gave as many as 200 grains of yield. Within a few years, the minister had multiplied the produce so much that history records a seed revolution. There was so much surplus that the minister decided to build a masjid from the income that came from the produce of moth. After the mosque was complete, he went to Sultan Sikander and invited him to visit the monument built from his gift. So pleased was the King with the minister that he even named the building, Moth ki Masjid or the Mosque from the Moth Lentil.
Majnu-ka-TilaA fakir lived on the banks of river Yamuna during the reign of Sultan Sikander Lodhi. He used to carry people across the river in his boat free of charge. He used to spend most of his time in prayers and meditation and yearned for the glimpse of the God. He was so much lost in his own thoughts often fasted. As a result of which he became thin and people started calling him Majnu after the Persian lover whose name became symbolic of intense love in mysticism in the Sufi literature.
One day, the fakir met Guru Nanak who blessed him and after that he achieved supreme enlightenment. He became the disciple of the Guru. His hermitage on the banks of the river Yamuna thereafter came to be known as Majnu-Ka-Tila. Many yogis, sufis and fakirs came to hold spiritual discourses with Guru Nanak at this place. Most prominent among them was the Sajadanahin of famous Saint Nizamuddin Auliya. He was deeply influenced by the teaching of Guru Nanak.
When Guru Har Gobind, the Sixth Guru, was invited by Emperor Jahangir he
stayed at Majnu-Ka-Tila. Guru Har Gobind starter preaching his name and many
people thronged to him to listen to his spiritual discourses. The Emperor
became suspicious and imprisoned him in the Fort of Gwalior. After his release
from the prison, Guru Har Gobind again stayed at Majnu-Ka-Tila on his way
back to Punjab. Thus, the shrine gained great importance and a gurudwara was
constructed. There is a well in the gurudwara compound. Sardar Baghel Singh
who came to Delhi in 1783 AD encamped at Majnu-Ka-Tila. He raised a small
structure at this sacred place in the memory of the Sikh Gurus. The marble
gurudwara was constructed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, parts of which can be
seen even today. He also endowed it with a Jagir, the income from which was
used for the maintenance of the gurudwara. The present building constructed
in 1950.
Agar
Sain Ki Baoli
The Agar Sain ki Baoli is a short walk from Jantar Mantar towards Kasturba
Gandhi Marg. It is a small structure built of rubble and dressed stone. It
was once known as a citadel of peace. The baoli is shaded by a massive neem
tree from the side where it has no roof. The northern end of the baoli is
a raised platform, which is roofed. Baoli is a stepped well to store natural
water, constructed in a manner whereby one could get water and also resting
space for a traveler. The Agar Sain ki baoli has five levels where each level
has an arched area, which was used as a resting place. The center of the well
has water and the water is also linked to a well dug in a covered platform.
The story behind the beautifully constructed well is a mystery since there
are no historical records to give an insight into who built it. Legends say
that it was constructed by a king called Agar Sain who ruled over Agra many
centuries before Sikander Lodi of the Lodi dynasty. The king was a frequent
traveler to Delhi and thought it fit to construct a place where one could
rest in cool environs. Some legends tell us that the name could have been
derived from Ugar Sain, who was supposed to be the father of Kamsa, the uncle
of Krishna. The Agar Sain ki baoli is a wonderful example of the stepped wells
constructed during the past but continues to remain neglected and uncared
for. Such structures definitely are among the many things that tourists especially
those coming from across the seas would like to admire if for nothing but
the novelty of the concept.
Hauz Khas Pond
The city of Delhi is bestowed with many ancient water reservoirs called baolis.
The kings of various dynasties that ruled this historic city built them. A
baoli or step-well consists of two parts: a vertical shaft from which water
is drawn and the surrounding inclined subterranean passageways, chambers and
steps, which provide access to the well. The galleries and chambers surrounding
these wells were often carved profusely with elaborate detail. They played
the role of resting place for the travelers during summers. The Hauz-I-Alai
or the Hauz Khas Pond is a large reservoir constructed by Alauddin Khilji
(1296-1316 AD). It went into disuse soon after his death in 1316 AD. Feroz
Shah Tughlaq rebuilt it during his reign almost 50 years later.
programmes there and Alauddin's tank now serves as an excellent backdrop to cultural events.
Tughlakabad
Fort Close to the road connecting Mehrauli with Badarpur in the south of Delhi, lies the majestic Tughlakabad Fort on a high outcrop of rocks, with walls which touch a height of over 27 metres at some points.The sprawling fortress was built by Ghyiasuddin Tughlak in 1321 A.D. to guard against the threat of invasion by the Mongols. Built in just four years, to enter the fort, one has to walk over a causeway which was once supported by 27 elegant arches, some of which are still visible. The fort has a huge depression towards the north where could have been a tank for storing rain water.Adjacent to the high three-tiered wall and at the fort's southern edge is an escape route leading downwards out of the fort.It is not advisable to enter the escape route. To the west of the entrance are the ruins of a palatial building where once stood a hall with 1000 pillars.Within the citadel and to its further west is a 15.5 metre deep water tank called Jahannum Ka Rasta( Road to hell).Legend has it that Ghiyasuddin was cursed by a saint, Nizamuddin Auliya because he had diverted all the labour working for the saint to build his city and the work of the saint got held up. The curse was that the city would be abandoned soon after it came up and it would be inhabited by jackals and Gujjars, a nomadic tribe. Ghiysauddin died in 1325 when a pavilion erected in his honour crashed on him. It is said that the accident was engineered by his son, Mohammed.With his death, the short-lived story of the city came to an end.
Ugrasen ki Baoli
Baoils ( step wells) were important structures built by various rulers and social workers of ancient India. The central idea behind the construction of these wells were to provide drinking water and also a cool place to rest for the people of the city as also the visitors who came there. Ugrasen ki Baoli was said to have been constructed by Maharaja Ugrasen, the supposed founder of the Agarwal community, who were linked with trade and commerce. There are any number of them both in Delhi and several other parts of north India and the singular purpose of building them was to provide both drinking water and shelter amidst cool environs. This baoli is believed to have been built some time during the 14th century.
Khirki
Masjid About two kilometres of Begumpari Masjid lies another mosque called Khirki Masjid which was built by Firoz Shah Tughlak in Khirki Village.It is engulfed by the large number houses of the modern village of Khirki. The masjid rests on an elevated plinth. Jaalis in the arched windows of the upper storey of the mosque allow for cross ventilation, breaking the incoming light into patterns. Perhaps to provide shade in the scorching heat of the Delhi, the inner courtyards exhibit an interesting experiment in the form of the two covered passages traversing it on both axes and intersecting each other at right angles in the cantre.
Khuni Darwaza
Khuni Darwaza(blood-soaked door) is an imposing gateway on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and it is believed to have been the northern gateway of Sher Shah Suri's capital, Shergarh.A tourist can get to the top of the three-storeyed gateway using the staircases within the walls. It is said that the head of Dara Shikoh who was beheaded by his brother, the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, was displayed here. It is also here that the two sons and a grandson of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, were shot by the British in 1857 and their bodies displayed for public viewing.
