In this
blog, I have already shared stories of my travels in Mehrauli with the help of
Google Map (https://trailoftwocities.blogspot.com/2019/02/exploring-mehrauli-part-1-google-map.html
and https://trailoftwocities.blogspot.com/2019/02/exploring-mehrauli-ii-tracing-route-of.html),
but as I had mentioned, I was alone, and due to concerns over safety inside a
desolate structure (with no security guards seen at that particular time), I
could not enter Zafar Mahal, said to be the last palace built by the Mughals.
So, when
I found out about a Mehrauli walk being organized by well-known heritage group
DelhiByFoot in March thbis year, I thought I should grab this opportunity. The
walk, led by Jaya Iyer, one of the prominent walk leaders of the city at
present, touched the key points of a typical Mehrauli trail, such as the Yogmaya
temple, Hauz-i-Shamsi and Jahaz Mahal, but I will mostly focus on Zafar Mahal.
Its
construction was started by Akbar Shah II in 1842 and completed by the last
Mughal Bahadur Shah Zafar, who, it is said, wanted to be buried there and even
kept a place reserved for himself, but that did not happen as he was deported
to Rangoon by the British authorities after the 1857 rebellion, to suffer a lonely
death far away from his homeland.
Tucked
among the bylanes near the dargah of Sufi saint Kutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, the
huge arched gateway of the complex, called “Haathi Gate”, can gives anyone a
feeling of being dwarfed. I noticed two windows on the uppermost level, jutting
out and covered by Bengal-style chala roofs. The gate was closed and our entrance
was through a small square-shaped door on the right lower side, which
inexplicably reminded me of a similar small doorway in the gate of in my secondary
school. The difference was that I entered through one to build my future and went
via the other to find out about our past, I thought.
The complex
is in a state of unkemptness, but still very beautiful. The upper floor from
where the emperors used to watch the annual Phoolwalon-ki-Sair procession,
going to Yogamaya temple and the dargah of Qutb Sahib, has several chambers
intact. The dome of the dargah can be seen clearly from here. However, the most
distinctive structure at the site, I felt, was the “Moti Masjid”, a private
mosque of the royals which may remind one of the Moti Masjid built by Aurangzeb
in Red Fort. This one is even simpler in its visual effect. There is no attempt
at creating any ornate design or decorations. It is made of white marble, silent
and stark in its demeanour.
Next to
Moti Masjid is a marbled enclosure with graves of the later Mughal emperors and
an empty space which was supposed to be the burial place of Bahadur Shah Zafar.
“Kitna
hai bad-nasib ‘Zafar’ dafn ke liye
Do gaz
zameen bhi na mili ku-e-yar mein”
(How
unlucky is Zafar, to not even find two yards for burial in the land of his
beloved).
As
DelhiByFoot member Mehtab recited the lines penned by by emperor who was also a
poet, it seemed that the walls of the ruins are emanating a sense of
forlornness and longing. Last time I had such thoughts about loneliness and despair
when I was standing in front of the grave of Razia Sultan, the first female
ruler of India, near Turkman Gate in Chandni Chowk. After traversing through
dark, congested and dingy lanes, when a visitor comes face to face with the
desolate, unmarked, unadorned grave, he or she is bound to contemplate on the futility
of life, fame and power.
Our next
stop in the tour was also a graveyard, albeit with a difference. The 15th-century
“Hizron Ka Khanqah”, a spiritual retreat for the transgender people of the
city. The square-shaped courtyard, where members of the community congregate
regularly, has 51 graves of the “kinnars”. The complex, is quiet and peaceful;
the hullabaloo of the busy market outside dies down as soon as one enters
through the small arched gate with domes on both sides, bearing the crescent-and-star
symbol.
When I
first came to Delhi, like many others, I thought Mehrauli is only about the
Qutub complex. But this “first city” of Delhi, as described by many chroniclers,
is full of such hidden gems of history. Even those historians and heritage
enthusiasts who have been visiting Mehrauli for years, may find that many
aspects of these sites are still left to explore and analyze.
I will go
back again someday.
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