I started my Sunday morning with a visit to the Tuglaqabad fort. It is hardly a 10 minutes drive from my place but I had never entered the fort until now. The fort is open to the public from 7.30 in the morning till late evening everyday. The department of ASI charges a princely sum of Rs 5 for visiting the fort, which Khushwant Singh considers is among the most beautiful ruins of the world. There are many wonderful stories associated with the fort.
Sultan Ghiasuddin was annoyed with a Sufi saint, Nizamuddin Auliya. During one of his expeditions he vowed that he would behead the saint in Delhi. The saint responded, “hunooz Dilli door ast”, which means ‘it’s a long way to Delhi’. (Centuries later, Subhash Chandra Bose used a different adaptation of these words, saying ‘ab Dilli door nahin’ during the struggle for independence). Ghiasuddin died on his way to Delhi, as a pavilion erected in his honour caved in and crushed the monarch. Nizamuddin Auliya lived and the king who swore to see him beheaded, perished instead. This is not the only reason why Ghiasuddin plays an important role in the history of Delhi. He built the strongest fort in Delhi at Tughlaqabad, which was completed within four years of his rule. It is surprising because the Fort is spread in the area of 6.5 square kilometers. Delhi is a combination of eight cities which existed from 900 BC to 1930 AD. Tuglaqabad was the fourth city of Delhi and was built in 1321 AD. It was deserted soon after the death of Ghiasuddin. According to a popular story, Nizamuddin Auliya had cursed the city and it could not prosper and flourish due to the curse. (However, this could also be attributed to the scarcity of water). The majestic 14th century Tuglaqabad Fort is connected to the mausoleum of Ghiyasuddin Tuglaq, by a causeway. Here are some photos of this beautiful fort: from my faithful Nokia N73.
The double storeyed Anarkali bazaar meant for the Begamat
‘Pani ki Bawaadi’ These water sources are common here in Delhi.
The mausoleum of Ghiasudin.
from Vishesh :)
from Reema :)
16 Comments
May 5, 2008 at 6:15 pm
A nice tour Prerna. Thanks.
May 5, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Beautiful pictures and a nice way to spend a Sunday.
May 5, 2008 at 10:19 pm
May 6, 2008 at 2:10 am
Prerna: Good pictures! Nokia should really recruit the amateur photographers for its campaigns rather than Raghu Rai.
By the way – pani ki baawadi – khari ya meethi?
May 6, 2008 at 10:09 am
hey, nice pictures you have got there. They reveal more that a detailed description in book could have done.
May 7, 2008 at 12:25 am
Thanks for this wonderful tour Prerna. Dilli holds its own cultural heritage. I dont know how the New Delhi is linked with the old Dilli in terms of culture.
But nevertheless you took some awesome pictures with your cell phone. My fav. “The mausoleum of Ghiasudin.”
May 7, 2008 at 1:14 am
Thanks Nita, Amit and Rajiv.
the ground water in our area is sweet too.
Shefaly thanks.It should have been Meethi paani ki bawdi. Like the inhabitants
Thanks Ammar, old Delhi is Shahjehanabad.One of the 8 cities of Delhi. People have moved to new residential areas from the walled city and have spread the culture. Old Delhi looks like Old City of Lahore( as seen in the documentaries). That too was built by Shahjehan I guess.
May 7, 2008 at 1:14 am
Thanks Poonam.
May 7, 2008 at 10:25 am
Shandaar pr3rna..read it twice and i felt like taking a tour myself…maybe one day, when Ill visit India..I’ll put this on top in my ‘things you must see in india’ list. Its one of my favorite post of yours…
May 8, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Wow tts really nice.. I sure will visit this fort whenevr i come to Delhi IA.
May 8, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Thanks Lubna and Assem.
May 9, 2008 at 10:30 am
[...] Mum’s version Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Delhi diary (Sep 2007) – 8movie. izad. littleoneless. freedom. [...]
May 13, 2008 at 11:38 pm
[...] The fort is open to the public from 7.30 in the morning till late evening everyday. The departmenthttp://pr3rna.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/hunooz-dilli-door-ast/Fire destroys mausoleum of 20th century Kashmiri poet Calcutta NewsThe mausoleum of 20th century [...]
July 14, 2008 at 10:23 am
Lovely place it is. Hope u had a gud time thr.
April 30, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I read the phrase “Dilli door ast” in an editorial by Hasan Suroor, but was not aware of it’s origin. Did a google search and ta-da landed to this wonderful post. Thanks for sharing!
May 1, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Welcome and thanks Arif.