The alarm rings at 8, I want to sleep a little more on this hazy Sunday morning. But, I get up because the glimmer of Chandni Chowk beckons. A heritage walk to Jama Masjid nestled withing the old, walled city of Shahjahanabad is an exercise in seeing fleeting glimpses of the 17th and 19th century. The walk director conjures up images of a proud Shah Jahan sauntering into his beautiful city in 1648 and Mirza Ghalib lamenting its demise after the freedom struggle of 1857.
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| Isfahan during 17th century. Credit: Isfahan Municipality Portal |
Shah Jahan's new capital was built to outshine the city of Isfahan in Persia, and it did so. Shahjahanabad was a gorgeous walled city with 14 gates and a webbed layout. Delhi as a city has been constantly recreated and this counts as the 6th among the 7 Delhis. 4 of Shahjahanabad's gates exist as structures today: Kashmiri gate, Ajmeri gate, Turkman gate and Delhi gate. We saw Kashimiri gate during the heritage walk on the 1857 mutiny.
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| Credit: www.traveladventures.org |
This walk began at Chawri Bazaar metro station and ended at Chandni Chowk metro station. But, this little space houses sprawling dimensions of heritage.
Outside Chawri Bazaar, we hopped onto cycle rickshaws to reach gate no 3 of Jama Masjid. A little haggling is of course the norm, but we got each riksha for 50 rupees to carry 4 of us each. I hopped onto the backseat which means facing the traffic coming towards the rick instead of following the ones in front. Interesting change in perspective!
Outside Chawri Bazaar, we hopped onto cycle rickshaws to reach gate no 3 of Jama Masjid. A little haggling is of course the norm, but we got each riksha for 50 rupees to carry 4 of us each. I hopped onto the backseat which means facing the traffic coming towards the rick instead of following the ones in front. Interesting change in perspective!
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| जामा मस्जिद (credit: Wikipedia) |
Jama Masjid is a majestic mosque built in 1650. It is one of the few mosques in Delhi which are being utilised as a place of worship as well as open to public as a monument. It is one of the prime examples of Indo-Islamic architecture. We saw the huge mehraab but the notable Indian additions are the chhatri and jharokha from Rajputana and the kalash and petals made on the mosque as decorations.
From the masjid, we move to the Sheesh Ganj Gurudwara where Guru Tej Bahadur was beheaded on Aurangzeb's orders. The nomenclature of Shah Jahan's times has still survived but I don't know if they still mean anything. There are many koochaa and katraa in Chandni Chowk, koochaa meant a lane open on both ends while katraa was a lane that had a dead end.
After a mosque and a gurudwara, we paid our respects to art in the house of Mirza Ghalib. One of the couplets that was read out really resonated with me:
तेरी महफ़िल में आ कर बड़े बेआबरू हुए,
आप से तुम और तुम से तू हुए
Teri mehfil mein aakar bade beaabroo hue/ Aap se tum aur tum se tu hue
I can understand the tehzeeb which Ghalib is referring to as till date it is forbidden in my house to address anybody as tu. It is considered quite base to do so.
With Ghalib's memories, we move on, back to the life of a Young India Fellow. As I walk the streets of Chandni Chowk, I wonder about the zeitgeist of Shahjahanabad and try to glimpse history in the breadcrumbs thrown to us by its few preservers. The fellows' thirst for knowledge and attempts to capture everything in this one year is a bit like Ghalib's dreams:
हज़ारों ख्वाहिशें ऐसी कि हर ख्वाहिश पर दम निकले
बहुत निकले मेरे अरमान लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले
Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace, sounds caress my ears
ReplyDeleteBut not a word I heard could I relay, the story was quite clear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyR0vF9ai4A
Nice article and good blog..............great
ReplyDeletevery nice article,,,
ReplyDelete