Delhi Metro Walks: Pragati Maidan

“Delhi Metro Walks” are my way of discovering the city places around the metro stations. This post is about the places to visit around the “Pragati Maidan” station on the Yellow line of Delhi Metro.

Delhi Metro network must be one of the fastest growing metro networks in the world. It came to Delhi only about 10 years ago and is already a complex web of lines covering large parts of the huge and growing city of 16 million persons, to which new lines and stations get added every year. It is a convenient way to discover hidden corners of the city.

1 PRAGATI MAIDAN METRO STATION

The Blue line is one of the longest lines in the Delhi metro network – it connects Dwarka in the south-west part of Delhi near the international airport to NOIDA and other satellite towns in the north-east. NOIDA in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh is part of the New Capital Region (NCR), the metropolitan area of Delhi .

So let us start our walking tour from the Pragati Maidan metro station. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes and keep a wide-brimmed cap or an umbrella to cover your head from the strong sun light. This is a long walking-tour and if you wish, you can spend many hours for this visit. As you come of the station, turn left and follow the boundary walls of the Trade Fair grounds on the Mathura Road.

The map below shows the different places to visit during this walking tour. The path on Mathura Road is shown in blue dots, while the sites are marked in red numbers.

2 PRAGATI MAIDAN (DELHI TRADE FAIR GROUNDS)

The trade fair grounds of Delhi called “Pragati Maidan” (literally the words mean “Progress Grounds”) give the name to the metro station. If there is an on-going trade fair, be prepared to tackle huge crowds at this station.

As you walk along the walls of the Trade Fair grounds, on your left you will encounter different entry gates. Pragati Maidan has different eating places, theatres and open-air cultural places that function only during the different trade fairs that take place throughout the year, especially between October to February.

I personally prefer the trade fairs concerning books and traditional crafts of India, though the fairs dealing with electronics, furniture, etc. and especially the international trade fair, attract a lot of visitors. There are numerous opportunities to see plays, films and dances during the trade fairs, especially in the evening. The quirky modernist architecture of the buildings is also an attraction.

MATKA PEER KI DARGAH

If you continue along the outer walls of the trade fair, near the crossing with Bhairon Singh Road, on your left you will find the dargah of Matka pir. “Dargah” denotes the prayer place of a Sufi pir (saint). Sufi pir are Muslim holy persons in the syncretic religious traditions of India and usually have followers from different religions. Usually the saint is buried in the same dargah and people visit it to ask a mannat (favour).

In this dargah, persons asking for a favour offer a matka (a round terracotta vase, traditionally used for storing cool water) to the saint. Thus on the different trees around this place, you will find hundreds of these vases hanging from the branches. Because of them, the saint is known as Matka Pir.

The earthen round matkas are used to offer roasted grams and jaggery at the dargah, because there is a story that the saint had once transformed iron balls and mud into these edibles. At the dargah you can also listen to qawali prayer songs.

You need to remove your shoes/sandals and cover your head with a scarf or a handkerchief to enter the dargah. Persons wearing shorts or skirts should not enter the dargah.

PURANA QILA OR THE OLD FORT

Just across the sanctuary of Matka Pir, on the other side of Bhairon road, you can see the walls of the Purana Qila or the old fort of Delhi, built in the 16th century.

Many kings of Delhi had preferred to built their own forts, shifting each time the imperial city that settled around the king’s fort. Since 1000 AD and over the next 500 years, the imperial city of Delhi had been in Mehrauli, then in Hauz Khas, then in Tughlakabad and finally to the areas around Lodhi gardens. In the 16th century came the Mughals from Western Asia – in 1524 arrived Babar who defeated the Lodhi king and became the new king of Delhi. However, Babar’s reign lasted only a few years and he died in 1530. Hamayun his son became the king but in 1540 he was defeated by Sher Shah Suri and forced to go back to West Asia.

After becoming the king, Suri decided to build a new fort, that is now known as the Purana Qila, some kilometres to the east, in an area known as Indraprastha, where the legend said that the ancient city of Pandavas from the Hindu epic Mahabharata was situated. Hamayun came back and attacked Delhi in 1555 and defeated Suri. Hamayun decided to live in Suri’s fort and constructed some new buildings inside the fort, including a round library.  A year later, Hamayun died, falling down from the stairs of that round building, and his 14 year old son Jalaluddin Mohammed (Akbar) became the king. As Akbar grew up, he decided to shift to Agra and along with him the imperial city also shifted. Suri’s fort was abandoned and was covered with plants and trees, and a village came up inside it.

For the next 100 years, the Mughal kings - Akbar, followed by Jahangir and Shahjahan continued to live in Agra. In 1658, Shahjahan’s son Aurangzeb became the king and he brought back the imperial city to Delhi, where his father had built a new fort to the north-east of the Delhi (Red Fort).

With this glimpse of the history of Delhi, you can visit the old fort. Its outer walls are surrounded by a small lake, a popular place for paddle-boating during summers. Inside the fort, some buildings including a mosque and the round shaped library of Hamayun are in good condition.

The old fort is the venue of some important cultural activities. For example, each year in November, the Ananya dance festival is held here.

KHAIR-UL-MANAZIL

Just across the road from the old fort is Khair-ul-Manazil (literally “The most beautiful building”), the house of Maham Angah, the wet nurse of prince Jalaluddin Akbar. This building was built in 1561-62.

Maham Angah was supposed to be a very powerful figure for many years in the court of the young king Akbar. However, for conspiring against the king, her son Adham Khan was killed and she was exiled, while Akbar shifted to Agra. If you have seen Ashutosh Gawarikar’s film “Jodha Akbar”, you will certainly remember Maham Angah, played wonderfully by Ila Arun.

The mosque of this building is quite well preserved, while the ruins of other buildings of this complex (probably a madrassa or an Islamic school) are worse off.

DELHI ZOO

The Delhi zoo is next to the old fort and is one of my favourite places in Delhi. It has wide open spaces where most animals are housed. It includes a small lake where a stable colony of painted storks, grey necked storks and cormorants lives. In February when the baby storks are there, it can be a really noisy place. The zoo also has lot of peacocks flying around.

The gardens of the zoo have a wide variety of trees and each tree is labelled with a short description. Thus, the zoo is an excellent place to learn about Indian trees.

Unfortunately, the persons visiting the zoo, especially adolescent boys, can be very noisy and thus, probably the animals are very stressed. Weekends are usually very crowded here. The zoo also has some antiquated laws regarding cameras so you are supposed to pay extra if you are carrying a camera, even if it is an old simple camera. However, you can take pictures or even shoot videos with your smart phone without paying anything extra.

CONCLUSIONS

After you finish the zoo visit, you can take an auto-rickshaw to take you back to Pragati Maidan metro station, because it can be a long walk (around 2.5 km)!

There are two more places to visit on this tour - both are on Bhairon Road, close to the Dargah of Matka peer - the crafts museum and the Bhairon temple. However, I did not visit them this time because I was too tired!

I like this walk because it provides very different kinds of experiences – historical, cultural, culinary, sacred and nature.

You can check the Travel page of this blog to see the other walks around metro stations of Delhi. I hope that you have enjoyed taking this walk with me.

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Delhi Metro Walks - Qutab Minar

Delhi Metro provides a lot of opportunities for discovering the historical heritage of Delhi through walks around the metro stations. This post is about some heritage sites in Mehrauli area of Delhi around the metro station "Qutab Minar" on the Yellow line.

The image above shows  the tomb of Ghiyasuddin Balban who ruled Delhi for about 20 years in the thirteenth century. It is one of the riches awaiting you on this walk.

DELHI AROUND MEHRAULI

According to the legends, the city of Delhi was first settled in the areas around Old Fort and it was called Indraprastha.

Mehrauli is one of the oldest parts of the city, inhabited at least from 10th century onwards, when Lal Kot fort was built by Tomara kings Surajpal and Anangpal. The name of the city "Dhilli" was given in that period.

The Tomara dynasty ended in 1149 AD when Prithvi Raj Chauhan became the ruler and converted Lal Kot into a new fort called Qila Rai Pithora. Chauhan ruled the city for more than 40 years. Chauhans were defeated by Qutubuddin Aibak around the end of 12th century, who built the well known Qutab Minar in Mehrauli.

Aibaks were replaced by Khilji dynasty and then the Slave dynasty of Mamluks in the 13th century, who continued to live in Mehrauli, though Khilji did initiate the construction of a water reservoir called Hauz-e-Alai to the north, in the area now known as Hauz Khas. Later, as Mughals arrived in Delhi in the 16th century, Delhi moved even further towards north-east, but Mehrauli continued to be inhabited. For example, the last Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar had built a palace in Mehrauli and one of his sons was buried here.

1. QUTAB MINAR METRO STATION

Qutab Minar metro station is on the Yellow line of the metro that connects Jahangir Puri in the north-west to Huda city centre in Gurgaon in the south of Delhi. Coming from the city centre Connaught Place, where the metro runs under-ground, "Qutab Minar" is the first over-ground station. The station is situated 2 km from Qutab Minar.

The map below shows the path for this walking tour. Qutab Minar metro station is shown on the bottom of this map (1). The blue dots indicate the path on Anuvrat Road going to Qutab Minar (2), a historical landmark of Delhi.

I preferred to take an auto-rickshaw from the metro station to Qutab Minar, and then walk back towards Mehrauli flower market and the Mehrauli Archeological park. However, if you wish, you can walk the whole way!

2. QUTAB MINAR

When I was a child, it was possible to climb to its top. Going up the narrow stairs going round and round was not an easy trip but I still remember standing on the small  terrace at the top and looking out from there. At that time, someone had explained that king Qutubuddin was married to a Hindu queen, who refused to eat without first praying to the river Yamuna. Thus, the king had ordered the building of the tall tower so that his queen could see the river and do her daily prayers.

The history books do not repeat this story any more, so probably it was just a local legend. Another local legend at that time was that the tower was even taller with 2 additional floors and that a plane had crashed into it, destroying the upper 2 stories. Even this story is no longer repeated so I guess it was also an urban legend.

The walls of the tower and other buildings nearby are adorned with words from Koran in Arabic.

The other buildings around the Minar include a couple of mosques, including one with an imposing gate called Alai Darwaza (The gate of god).

One of the courtyards near the Minar has a 4th century iron pillar, made from an alloy in such a way that it does not get rusted. Different legends are linked to this pillar. One legend says that if you stand with your back towards the pillar and then try to reach out and circle it with your arms - if your hands can meet, you will become a king. However, some years ago, the pillar was surrounded by an iron railing so it is not possible to test this legend any more.

Another legend says that this pillar called Killi in the local language, gave the name of Dhilli and then Dilli (Delhi in English) to the city.

Qutab Minar is a World Heritage site of UNESCO.

3. MEHRAULI FLOWER MARKET

As you come out of Qutab Minar and start walking towards the metro station, take the small lane on the right, and it will bring you to the flower market of Mehrauli. The market works mainly early in the morning when retailers from different parts of the city and families preparing for a marriage, come here to buy flowers.

It is a very unassuming street, dusty and full of pot holes, but it has a lot of ambiance.

As you come out of the market on the Anuvrat road, if you are interested, you can climb up the hill across the road to visit the giant Mahavir statue, a contemporary of Buddha, who gave a message of non violence and love towards all living beings. The followers of Mahavir are called Jains, who usually observe strict dietary norms and do not eat any kinds of meat, fish, eggs and even some vegetables such as onions and garlic.

I wanted to spend more time in Mehrauli Archeological park, so I gave a miss to the Mahavir statue, promising myself that soon I will go back there to visit it.

MEHRAULI ARCHEOLOGICAL PARK

The ruins of Mehrauli archeological park surrounded by a forest are one of the most enchanting places of this city. To reach the park, continue on Anavrat road towards the metro station and you will see the park board and gates on your right.

As you enter the park, if you turn towards the right, you will reach the tomb of king Balban (4) from 13th century, presented in the first image of this post. All around the tomb, there are ruins of old houses and buildings.

A short walk will bring you to the Jamali Kamali mosque and tombs (5). Sheikh Fazulullah or Jamali was a sufi saint and poet in the 16th century. The tomb was built in 1528 and has two graves - that of Jamali and his close friend Kamali. Some persons believe that Jamali and Kamali were not just friends but also lovers. The tomb has lovely glazed blue coloured tiles.

Across the entrance to the mosque, on a hillock there is a small chhattri (umbrella), built by an Englishman called "Metcalf's folly". Baron Thomas Theophillus Metcalf was the British Resident in the court of the last Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar II and is credited with different buildings in Mehrauli area.

As one proceeds inside the park, some distance down the road is the tomb of Quli Khan, from the time of Mughal emperor Akbar. The tomb building was restored and converted into holiday place called Dilkhusha by Baron Metcalf, who also built a boat house (6) near by. The small lake near the boat house is now dry and covered by the forest.

About half a kilometre later, walking on a narrow forest path, you will reach (7) Rajon ki Baoli (King's stepwell), a famous stepwell built by noble Daulat Khan during the reign of Sikander Lodhi in the 15th century.

Across the entrance to the Baoli, if you climb on the hillock, you will find numerous important looking tombs, indicating that once this was an important place.

Further along the road, you will see other ruins of buildings and tombs, till you reach a small street of Mehrauli residential area. Along a mosque on the right, you will see another old stepwell, (8) Gandhak ki Baoli (Sulphur well), which is supposed to be a place for miracle cures of illnesses and disabilities. While there, I saw a poor family with their disabled child, going down towards the dirty looking water of this well.

Near by is the (9) dargah of a Sufi saint Bakhtiar Kaki. People come from far away places to ask favours from this saint.

CHANGES IN RELIGIONS IN MEHRAULI

Before the arrival of the Turks, this part of the city was an important pilgrimage centre for Hindus with different temples. Some of those temples were destroyed and their buildings were used for making the new monuments of the Muslim rulers, as you can see from the following picture of a column in the Qutab Minar courtyard.

Today, Mehrauli is also a symbol of syncretic traditions of Hindus and Muslims. In October every year it celebrates a flower festival called "Phoolwaalon ki Sair" (The walk of persons carrying flowers) that passes from the ancient Yogmaya temple to the Sufi dargah of Bakhtiar Kaki. This occasion is marked by a lovely cultural programme that runs for 3 days.

Legend has that the ancient Yogmaya temple, dedicated to the sister of Krishna, is one of the old temples from Mahabharata times. This temple had given the old name of Yoginipura to this part of Delhi. I did not visit this temple this time, but I hope to go back to it soon.

CONCLUSIONS

I was getting late and after the visit to the dargah I decided to walk back through the Mehrauli Archeological park and towards the metro station. The whole walk had taken more than 3 hours. Unfortunately, this meant that I missed out on many other important places in Mehrauli including the Lal Kot walls, Jahaz Mahal, Zafar Mahal, tomb of Adham Khan and Bhul Bhulaiya (maze). To visit all those other places, I needed at least 2 additional hours. So I plan to go back one day and complete this walking tour of Mehrauli.

Thus, if you are planning this walking tour, keep plenty of time, wear comfortable and simple shoes and carry water and other ncessities with you. The whole area is almost wild, that gives it a lovely air, but it means that you will not find any services or shops on the way. In my opinion, it would not be advisable to women travelling alone to attempt this walk - there are just too many lonely stretches.

This walk will take you through a dead city. There is no way to find out the names of the persons who lived and died here or the historical events linked to them. Often you will reach rough paths dividing and going into different directions - it does not matter which path you will take, you will end up with some interesting ruins. Thus, if you like adventure, you will love this walk!

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Delhi Metro Walks - Hauz Khas

Delhi Metro provides wonderful opportunities for discovering Delhi and to visit its rich trove of historical monuments. This post is about discovering the Delhi of the 13th - 15th century through a walking tour from the Hauz Khas metro station.

Chor Minaar or the "Tower of thieves" in the image above can give you an idea of the historical riches awaiting you on this walk.

DELHI IN THE 13th - 15th CENTURIES

13th to 15th centuries in Delhi are known as the "sultanat" period. In this period, Delhi was under different dynasties of Turkish origins. This period continued till mid 1500s, when Hamayun arrived in Delhi and gave rise to the Mughal dynasty.

13th century saw the arrival of Slave (Mamluk) dynasty in Delhi. They made their city in Mehrauli area of the present day Delhi. Sultan Qutubuddin Aibak from the Mamluk dynasty built the well known Delhi landmark Qutub Minar.

Near the end of 13th century, the Mamluks were replaced by the Khilji dynasty. Sultan Alauddin Khilji, who became Delhi's ruler in 1296 AD, named his city Siri and moved it to the present day "Siri fort" area near Hauz Khas. He also constructed a a water reservoir for his city that was called Hauz-e-Alai and gave the name to Hauz Khas (King's water reservoir).

Khiljis were replaced by the Tughlaks in the early 14th century. Initially Tughlaks tried to shift their capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in Maharashtra, but it did not work out and they returned to Delhi. Their Delhi was then shifted to Tughlakabad to the south of Hauz Khas. One of the Tughlak kings, Firoz Shah, is buried in Hauz Khas (his tomb in the image below).

In the second half of 14th century, the Tughlaks were replaced by the Lodhi dynasty and their Delhi moved towards the north. The Delhi map in the image below, shows these shifts of the power centres in Delhi during 13th to 15th centuries - first to (1) Mehrauli, then to (2) Hauz Khas, (3) Tughlakabad and finally towards (4) Lodhi Gardens.

This whole area is full of historical buildings, especially tombs, mosques and madarsas (Islamic schools) from that period. The Hauz Khas metro walk is an opportunity to discover some of those forgotten buildings.

With the arrival of the Mughals, Delhi was shifted further to the north-east - first to the old fort and then towards Red Fort. Thus, gradually the Delhi of 13th to 15th centuries was abandoned and the Aravalli forests covered many of these buildings. Most of them have been rediscovered and repaired over the past 2 decades.

With this brief introduction to the city's history, now we are ready to start our walk.

1. HAUZ KHAS METRO STATION & WALK

Hauz Khas stop is on the yellow line of Delhi Metro connecting Jahangir Puri and Kashmiri Gate in the north to Rajiv Chowk in the centre and to Huda City centre in Gurgaon towards the south of Delhi. For this walk, take exit 3 from the metro station, that goes towards the College of Home Economics and Mayfair gardens.

As you come out of exit 3, continue along the same road and follow it as it joins Sri Aurobindo Marg. Cross to the other side and continue in the same direction. You will pass in front of the Aurobindo market. After the market, turn left on the Hauz Khas village road towards the Deer Park. The total walking distance is around 3 km and if that is too much for you, you can take an auto for this part.

The different places to see on this walking tour are marked on the map below. Exit 3 of Hauz Khas metro station is marked as 1 on this map. For a better view, look at this area on the Google map.

2. DADI AND POTI TOMBS

A short walk on the Hauz Khas village road brings you to the Dadi (Grand mother) and Poti (Grand daughter) tombs on the right side, enclosed inside a tiny garden. The names of the tombs are misleading - they are just a way to denote a bigger and a smaller tomb.

The smaller tomb (Poti tomb), has a distinctive lantern on its top and is from the Tughlaq period (14th century). The bigger tomb (Dadi tomb) is from a later (15th century) Lodhi period.

3. OTHER TOMBS ON HAUZ KHAS VILLAGE ROAD

A little further down the road, on the left side is a building called Barah Khambe (12 columns), a harmonious looking square building with 12 columns of varying widths. It has different tombs inside and outside, and has some other constructions including a curious bastion like structure. This building also dates from Lodhi period (15th century).

Just across the road from Barah Khambe is the Sakri Gumti (Narrow building), also from 15th century.

A few meters down the road is Chhoti Gumti (Small building) with a small park, very popular with local families, who come and sit here in the evenings.

All these buildings are from the Lodhi period and were probably tombs of important persons of that time.

4. JAGGANNATH TEMPLE

A little walk brings you to the white coloured Jagganath temple on the left side of the road. Lord Jagganath, representing Krishna, is a deity from Odisha state of India, that has the famous ancient Jagganath temple at Puri. The massive chariot of Lord Juggenath in Puri has given rise to the word "juggernaut".

The temple on Hauz Khas village road is a recent construction that makes for a nice stop for its intricate workmanship and the colourful lions at its entrance.

5. HAUZ KHAS VILLAGE AND THE DEER PARK

A short walk from Jagganath temple brings you to the entrances of Hauz Khas village and the Deer Park.

The Deer Park has an enclosure for the deer and another one for rabbits. Parts of the park are covered with a dense forest.

The deer are protected by different layers of metal nets and barbed wires, probably denoting difficulties in controlling the behaviour of the crowds visiting this park. Because of these big and ugly barriers, personally I did not like this part of the park.

However, the park also has different historical buildings, such as the walled mosque and Kali Gumti (Black building) in the image below.

One of the most beautiful buildings in this area, "Bagh-i-Aalam ka Gumbad" (The dome of the garden's king) from the 15th century Lodhi period is also in the Deer park. It is very similar to the better known tombs in the Lodhi Gardens. Decorated with blue and dark red stones, it is a little jewel of a building.

After the visit in the Deer Park, you can continue your journey in the "Hauz Khas village", an area full of chic shops, art galleries and restaurants, that used to be a village till 1980s. If you are interested in cuisines from different parts of the world including Italian espresso coffee, French patisserie and the Persian kebabs, you will find them all here.

6. HAUZ KHAS OR HAUZ-E-ALAI

A short walk through the main road of the Hauz Khas village, will bring you to the numerous ruins around the water reservoir built by sultan Khilji in the 13th century.

There are different buildings here including the ruins of a madrasa (Islamic school), a three-domed building used for meetings, different chhattris (stone umbrellas) and mosques, from different periods between 13th to 15th centuries. There is no entry ticket to visit these ruins.

While you walk around the ruins, below you can also admire the old water reservoir at a lower level. It was restored a few years ago with paths for walking. The way to the reservoir walking path is through the Deer park.

The Hauz Khas ruins also include the tomb of the king Firoz Shah Tughlak mentioned above.

These ruins are a popular meeting place for students and young persons, who sit around the different buildings - reading, daydreaming, gossiping or playing. They also give a wonderful lived-in alive air to the ruins.

7. GADIYA MATTH AND CHOR MINAAR

If you are not tired from the walk, on your way back to the gate 3 of the Hauz Khas metro station, you can visit a small side lane which has a Hare Krishna temple called Gadiya Matth (monks' house) and the Chor Minaar (Tower of the thieves).

Chor Minaar was a police tower on an ancient 14th century Delhi road, and was used as a look-out for thieves and bandits.

CONCLUSIONS

Like Chor Minaar, there are many other buildings from this period of Delhi's history in this area, hidden behind houses in the residential colonies, or closed inside traffic round abouts.

For example, across Ring Road and Sarvapriya Vihaar, you can take Maharishi Dayanad Marg and then follow on the right side to Geetanjali Marg, where you can take a look at the 14th century Begumpuri mosque.

For most of these buildings, it is not easy to find information about specific buildings such as who was buried there or what was their historical importance. The Delhi chapter of INTACH, a citizens' organisation, has done pioneering work in promoting the conservation of numerous heritage buildings in the city including the Hauz Khas complex. If you are interested in learning more about these buildings, you can take a look at the INTACH publications "Delhi - The built heritage" and "Delhi - A thousand years of building".

Finally if you do not mind missing on the Chor Minaar, you can also reach Hauz Khas village road from the Green Park metro station!

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