Mehrauli Archaeological Park, New Delhi

I was in New Delhi few weeks ago and had some time to spare. Having visited Delhi many times, I had seen most of the touristic spots. My attention went to the lesser known places and while searching, Mehrauli Archaeological park looked like a nice place. It was also near to the place where I was staying. 

About Mehrauli Archaeological park

It is an archaeological area occupying a space of about 200 acres next to Qutub Minar complex. It contains archeological structures of various dynasties that rules Delhi for the last thousand years. 

My visit

I got down from the taxi at “Ahinsa Sthal”, a Jain temple. Entry into the park was opposite to the temple. It was a hot day and knowing that there is nothing available inside the park, I picked up a water bottle from a road side shop. It was quite surprising that within minutes of entering into the park, the hustle and bustle of the Delhi road was gone. It seemed like I entered into a different world. During my entire visit, I did not see anyone apart from workers in the park, couple of tourists and few love birds (looking for some privacy).

Authorities had done some nice work by putting signboards for the important monuments in the park. It was have been good if they had provided a map of the area but nevertheless the problem was partly solved by Google maps. One of the first monuments I saw was the Jamali Kamali mosque and the tomb. Built in 1528-29, it consists of a prayer hall with a large courtyard in the front. It has five arches with a dome at the centre. The walls are well decorated. The mosque is associated with Jamali, a poet during Lodi and Mughal dynasty.

While the place is very serene, it is also known as one of the most haunted place in India!! There are instances of people being slapped by invisible forces and have heard various voices coming from adjoining graves!! Like most haunted places, things happen during night. My visit was during day time and things looked perfectly normal!! 

After the mosque, I roamed around aimlessly for some time looking around many ruined structures. Some of the areas were very secluded and not maintained. So, I moved back to the main trail leading to the Rajon Ki Baoli. Baoli is nothing but a stepped well. As I reached the step well, a dog barked and rushed towards me giving some anxious moments. The attack was averted by the guards who shouted at the dog. I am more worried about such visible forces than invisible ones!!

Baoli was indeed beautiful from an architecture point of view. But sadly the well and the water was dirty. It was a pity that people had thrown plastic bottles into the well. It gives a bad feeling.

There was no restriction in moving on top of the building. It provided a nice view of the surrounding. Few tombs and a dome occupied the area next to the well. Again, the art work on the wall was impressive.

In front of the step well were the tombs belonging to Lodi era which was standing on a  large plinth.

The place seemed to be filled with tombs One of the major tombs was of Muhammad Quli Khan. I had never heard of his name and the information board mentioned that he was related to Akbar, one of the Mughal kings. Interestingly, it was converted to weekend retreat during British!!

I would have spent around couple of hours in this area. The amount of ruins is countless in this park. I only visited few important ones during my visit. Thanks to the canopy of trees and garden, there was lot of places to rest and relax in the shade.