Monuments

A Weekend in Old Delhi

A budget weekend in purani Dilli ♦ The most difficult decision I had to make while packing for a weekend in Old Delhi, was what sort of attitude I ought to carry with me to this contigu­ous yet discrete part of the capital city. Many travellers have written about how home can only be un­derstood once …

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Age and beauty

The walled city oozes so much spiritual history, every gali could turn into a trail. Here are four roads less travelled ♦               Older Delhi The pre-Shahjahanabad tour. The walled city hides several sacred sites that predate Shahjahan’s imperial city. Four major ones are relatively close together and can be …

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Graveyard of the Raj

Secret Delhi: Coronation Durbar Park ♦ North of Old Delhi, in a now-desolate field, lies an incredible historical junkyard. Coronation Durbar Park — named for the sumptuous durbars of 1877 and 1903, and for playing host to the coronation of King George V as Emperor of India in 1911 — is a dusty slice of …

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Paradise Garden

Secret Delhi: Shalimar Bagh ♦ There is a scuffed-up, chipped and fractured jewel of a garden close to Delhi’s northern limits — Shalimar Bagh. Despite its slightly unkempt appearance, the garden has historical importance. It was here that Aurangzeb was first crowned emperor after deposing his father Shah Jahan in 1658. The garden itself was …

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