The vast network of the Delhi Metro has made it easy to explore different part of the city, that used to feel like far-away places in the past. For example, in the early 1960s when I was a child, I remember going from Old Delhi to the Yamuna river-bank in Okhala with my aunt and cousins, and it was like going on a long journey. Today Okhala is just a stop on the metro, easy to reach.
Recently, while in Delhi for a brief family visit, I had gone to Malviya Nagar metro station. This gave me an opportunity to explore the areas around it. I had only a few hours for this visit but still I managed to walk and see three new places - A Buddhist exhibition in a new structure built among the Rai Pithora Garh ruins; the Khirki Mosque and the KN Art museum (KNM) at the Select City mall.
I will write separately about the art exhibitions at the KNM. This post is about Rai Pithora Garh ruins, the Buddhist exhibition and the Khirki Mosque.
The image below is from the Buddhist exhibition, showing a Kadamba tree and the disciples of Buddha, wearing Kadamba flowers, and paying respects to the mortal remains of Buddha in the casket.
The map below shows the areas covered in this walking tour - as you can see, the whole walk is on the Press Enclave road: (1) Malviya Nagar Metro station; (2) Rai Pithora Garh ruins & cultural Centre are to the west from the metro station; while (3) Khirki mosque and (4) KNM are to east. (click on the images for a bigger view).
Ruins of Qila Rai Pithora Garh
Rai Pithora Garh fort was a later addition to the Lal Kot citadel, the first city of Delhi. Lal Kot ruins are located about 2 Kms away to the west, in the Sanjay Van forest in Mehrauli.
Lal Kot (Red Fort) was built by Anang Pal Tomar in the 8th century. Rai Pithora Garh fort was built around 1180 CE under the king Prithvi Raj Chauhan (also known as Rai Pithora).
In 1191, Chauhan was attacked by Muhammad Ghori from west Afghanistan, but Prithviraj was able to repel this attack. A year later, Ghori returned with a bigger army and the two sides met in Tarain (today known as Taraori in Karnal district, more than 100 Km from Delhi). This time, Ghori won the battle and killed Chauhan.
After the war with Chauhan, Ghori also attacked and won Kannauj, around 100 Km east of Agra. Thus, in that period, around 10-11th century CE, probably Lal Kot-Pithora areas and Kannauj were the two major cities in central north India.
Ghori gave the command of Pithora Garh to his Turkish slave Qutb-ud-din Aibak, and of the eastern areas in Kannauj to another Turkish slave Bakhtiyar Khalji, and retreated to the west of Sindhu river.
After the assassination of Ghori in 1206, Aibak declared independence, and laid the foundations of Delhi Sultanat by the Slave Dynasty. Aibak also started the construction of Qutab Minar, not very far from Lal Kot and the ancient Yogmaya temple.
Khalji expanded his kingdom towards the east of Kannauj, and was involved in the burning of the Buddhist learning centre in Nalanda.
Today, a park has been built around the ruins of the old walls of Rai Pithora fort. In the centre of the park, a round Cultural Centre has been built for exhibitions and other activities. At the top of this circular structure is a statue of Prithvi Raj Chauhan on a horse. The image above shows a part of the old fort wall and the new cultural centre.
Exhibition of Buddhist Relics at Rai Pithora Garh Cultural Centre
In 1898, an English engineer William Claxton Peppé excavated a mound near Piparwa and found urns and boxes containing Buddha's relics, gold ornaments, precious gems and some inscriptions, including one inscription in ancient Brahmi script, which identified these as the mortal remains of the Gautama Buddha. It was one of the most significant archaeological finds in the Buddhist history.
The British Government gifted the sacred relics to the Buddhist kings in Siam (Thailand) and Sri Lanka, while William's family took the different urns, boxes, gems and other archaeological finds to England. In 2025, these archaeological materials were given back to India.
To celebrate the return of these important Buddhist sacred relics, a special exhibition has been organised in Rai Pithora Garh cultural centre, where apart from the Piparwa gems and urns, important Buddhist sculptures and materials from different museums of India have been brought together (image above)
It is a beautiful exhibition and if you are interested in Indian and Buddhist history in the period 500 BCE to 1000 CE, you can find here plenty of beautiful exhibits. There is no entry ticket for visiting it and you can also look at the ruins of the Rai Pithora Garh fort.
You can also learn more about the Piparawa archaelogical finds in their website.
Khirki Mosque
After the death of Prithviraj Chauhan, Rai Pithora Garh fort was taken over by Aibak, which gave rise to the Delhi Sultanate. The Sultanate was composed of five dynasties (Mamluks, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid and Lodhi), which ruled north India till the arrival of the Mughals.
The area around Malviya Nagar was the key location for the Tughlaq dynasty, which created different monuments here, including the Khirki Mosque, built during the second half of the 14 century.
It is a huge building. The mosque is located at a higher level with gates on three sides and steps for going up (image above). Now this building is closed. However, a local man, sitting near the entrance, has the keys to one of the gates of the mosque.
All around the mosque, on a higher (street) level, 3-4 storey buildings have been built, some of which looked a bit precarious to me. At the mosque, it seems as if you are standing in a well, looking at people living their lives all round in matchbox like houses (image below).
I had read that it is very difficult to find this Khirki mosque, however, I found it easily. The best way to reach it, is to look for the blue-and-white painted big pedestrian over-bridge in front of MGF mall. The mosque is on the opposite side of the road, a little after this bridge. After the over-bridge, look for a Shiv temple with its red coloured walls, and take the narrow lane just after the temple. The mosque is 2 minutes walk from there. (Shiv temple located on the main Press Enclave road, is shown in the image below)
Other Historical Monuments Near Malviya Nagar Metro Station (Not covered under this walk)
There are some other historical buildings in this area, which I did not visit due to lack of time. For example, close to metro station is another old mosque, the Badi Masjid; behind Khirki Masjid, going towards Sheikh Sarai, there are ruins of the tomb of Yusuf Qattal; and further down the road from Khirki Masjid going towards east, is the Satpula lake complex. I hope to return to this area during a future visit to look at all these other monuments.
In The End
Delhi is full of forgotten histories and their monuments. The areas of Sheikh Sarai, Khirki Mosque and Satpula were part of Jahapanah, the Delhi built by Firoz Shah Tughlaq in the 14th century.
Most of the medieval buildings of this area were buried under earth-mounds and have been covered by the new constructions over the past 60-70 years. Most simple single storey houses have been converted into taller buildings, as Delhi continuously expands.
This means that if you can walk with your eyes opened, you can discover bits and pieces of those histories. The construction of Delhi Metro has played a big role in both hiding and exposing those forgotten histories. Its construction allowed excavations and many new archaeological discoveries. Its vast network means that you can easily visit and discover different parts of the city. At the same time, metro by facilitating access, has led to numerous new constructions and loss of the city-histories.
The last image (above left) is from the Buddha exhibition - it is one of the wall-paintings from Ajanta caves which were built by Buddhist monks in 2 century BCE. These wall-paintings show one of the ancient Indian painting styles.
Some More Delhi Walking Tours Near Metro-Stations
I love going out of a metro-station, walking and exploring Delhi's histories around it. You can also check my post about these other walking tours around some metro-stations of Delhi -
Delhi Metro Walking tours - Rajiv Chowk and Connaught Place;
Delhi Metro Walking Tours - Jor Bagh;
Delhi Metro Walking Tours - Pragati Maidan;
Delhi Metro Walking Tours - Qutab Minar;
Delhi Metro Walking Tours - Hauz Khas; and
Delhi Metro Walking Tours - Dalit Struggles and Pride in Okhla.
*****
Bahut khoob.
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