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- On BBC Radio 4 : Excess Baggage journalist Sam Miller was talking about walking around Delhi and sites tourists don't normally go to .. You can listen again from the Excess Baggage archive on the Radio 4 Website
- I took a bus to South Delhi and spent the whole day wandering around 600 year old Mughal ruins. As Sam said it is amazing that they just sit there with housing estates being built right around them. You see in Mughal times 600 years ago thay was the centre of Delhi, then in modern times the centre moved 15Km north, but now the suburbs are expanding out to Soth Delhi. He told of an ancient Mosque in the Commonwealth Games construction site that was just completely bulldozed. - 2 Important Factors
- 1. There are so many of these Mughal ruins in South Delhi
- 2. They are Muslim ruins so I suspect a Hindu dominated government isn't really interested in preserving them.
- Surely the Delhi Heritage Board is incompetent ? You can't leave such important heritage to fall down. It's a pity they don't have a system of privatising them say by giving 10 year leases to use them for restaurants/ hotels or concert venues. Being in use would help conserve them and provide money for repairs.
- I set off to visit some like Khirki-ki-Masjid I got the directions from Wikipedia, but that place turned out to be a similar abandoned Mosque complex
- See my map
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1. Moth Ki Masjid Mosque wrongly confused with Khirki-ki-Masjid on Wikipedia map coordinates - off Kranti Marg nearly opposite HUB shopping centre
- walked back to Kranti Marg then 500m south to
- 2. Siri Fort - Commonwealth games village construction
- I took a bus, but it's easier to walk 1Km south to :
- 3. Khirki-ki-Masjid accidentally walked to .. front of Saket shopping mall. It was a strange coincidence : I went to the mall to meet someone, but crossed the road to look for a cybercafe and as I walked behind the shops suddenly there was a sign. Interestingly enough both mapboards had been defaced as if someone didn't want you to visit. It was an impressive site. It's a still largely intact and consists of a football pitch sized building of 40 domes. Inside is a strange effect as the 4 columns supporting each dome make up lines in every direction including the diagonal. Nothing touristic is made of it ..there were a few old men playing cards.
- 150m north to
- 4. A Square box tomb
- walked 600m north through a gated community to
- 5. Some Abandoned Mosque/Mauseleums
- then 1Km west, real cold Pepsi to
- 6. Bijai Mandal Platform Large abandoned dome, one can climb for good city views and then
- 100m south is
- 7. Begampur Mosque Another abandoned mosque complex like Khirki-ki-Masjid ... It's a large courtyard so it would be good for some purposes like concert, conference etc
- 200m east back to main road Sri Aurebindo and 1.5Km by bus to
- 8. Al Qutab tower and iron pillar , I didn't go in
- 200m south to
- 9. Ahinsa Stahl- a high placed dome also with views
- back west across the road to :
- 10. Whole park of Mughal ruins
- I went to the west side and then uphill north then back east
- 11. A huge step well
- 200m east to
- 12. Another large dome tomb
- bus 501 ? or 505 ? came all the way back to Connaught Place and New Delhi station
- notes
: Recommends
Mosque surrounded by houses
South Delhi Ruins often found abandoned in the middle of new housing developments :
Khirki-ki-Masjid
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Access to the mosque is through the narrow lanes of Khirki village near Saket, which is located in South Delhi. It is 4 km (2.5 mi) east of Qutub Minar and 13 km (8.1 mi) south of Connaught Place. The remnants of the fourth city of Delhi, Jahanpanah, the raised Bijai Mandal Platform and the Begampur Mosque with its variety of domes are other attractions close to the mosque
He also recommends : The River gardens in the city
- This guy has good photos
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