City Monument – White Marble Chausath Khamba, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti Monuments by The Delhi Walla - February 19, 20260 Delhi in immortal marble. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Great poet Mirza Ghalib was born in the city of Taj Mahal, that Mughal-era marble monument to romantic love. His karam-bhoomi however was Delhi, where he spent his long life composing poems on pyar-prem-ishq. But here’s the irony. Ghalib did not compose a single ghazal on the lovely Taj. Even so, his grave in Delhi stands beside the world’s first Mughal monument built entirely of marble. That said, while Delhi is a city crowded with monuments, only a few of them are constructed entirely of marble, though many monuments incorporate it among other materials. The city’s handful of all-marble structures includes the Moti Masjid inside the Red Fort, the Diwan-i-Khas within the
City Monument – Jama Masjid Views, Old Delhi Monuments by The Delhi Walla - January 22, 20260 One landmark, many perspectives. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Which Old Delhi monument is so grand and so visible from all parts of the historic quarter that it appears to symbolize the entire Old Delhi? It is not the great Red Fort, which lies on the outer limits of the Walled City; a good part of it anyway destroyed in the 1857 uprising. That monument is the Jama Masjid. The sandstone edifice is visible from the rooftops of every neighbourhood in Purani Dilli. During the Emergency years, in the 1970s, some members of the ruling party wanted to demolish parts of the Walled City, to create an unhindered view of the monument. “I want Jama Masjid to be clearly visible from Turkman
City Monument – Turkman Gate, Old Delhi Monuments by The Delhi Walla - January 6, 20260 50 years later. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Old Delhi’s Turkman Gate stands as a stark souvenir of India’s Emergency era. This year marks the 50th year of its fateful link with that episode in our contemporary history. Consider author Patrick French words, describing those events that unfolded in 1976, in his book on India: “Standing by Turkman Gate in Delhi’s old city, he (Sanjay Gandhi) told a government official he wanted to be able to see the Jama Masjid, the main mosque. Over a period of six days the command was implemented and… 150,000 shacks were knocked down. (On 19 April) The police fired on a group of homeless protesters near Turkman Gate, killing several.” Half a century later, this
City Monument – Park Monuments, Sunder Nursery Hangouts Monuments by The Delhi Walla - January 5, 20260 On the edifices of a public garden. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] We began the first day of the new year by recommending you to visit all the 12 monuments in Lodhi Garden. But Delhi has many gardens, and many of them have monuments. Take Sunder Nursery, which has greater number of monuments than even the grand old Lodhi Garden—20 in all. Six monuments within the park are in fact part of the Humayun Tomb UNESCO World Heritage Site; the emperor’s mausoleum stands beside the park. Sunder Burj, which dates from 16th century, is the oldest monument in the garden. While the 18th century Mughal Pavilion is its youngest, and most secretively situated (see photo). It stands out in its poignant
City Monument – 12 Ruins, Lodhi Garden Monuments by The Delhi Walla - January 2, 2026January 5, 20260 12 monuments for 12 months. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here’s to 2026 with a Delhi classic. Aligned with the months of the year, visit these 12 monuments nestled within the world-famous Lodhi Garden. Ideally, one monument per month, from January to December. 1. Visit Emperor Sikander Lodhi’s tomb. Hidden behind a rugged stone wall, a discreet gateway opens into a spacious garden, at the centre of which stands the octagonal monument. 2. Visit Sheesh Gumbad. The monument’s dome, aka gumbad, was originally adorned with blue enamelled tiles; hence its name, meaning “glazed dome”. The stone chamber is littered with graves, their identities lost to history. 3. Visit the Bara Gumbad. Try exploring the
City Monument – Churches, Around Town Faith Monuments by The Delhi Walla - December 24, 20251 Christmas Eve edifices. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Edifices of stone. Stately domes. Long aisles. Sombre organ music. And an echoing silence that seems to sing and speak. Delhi’s great churches strike awe with their architecture and history. Today, let us launch into Christmas Eve by offering an ode to two lesser-known churches—before arriving at the city’s greatest church. Consecrated in 2010, the Catholic church of St Peter’s in New Palam Vihar is topped with a modest cross. The walls inside are framed with wood-cut images inspired from the final moments of Christ: “Jesus falls the third time,” “Jesus robbed of his garments,” “Jesus nailed to the cross,” “Jesus dies on the cross,” etc. The altar shows Jesus in white robes
City Landmark – Safdarjang Tomb’s Traffic Light, Lodhi Road Landmarks Monuments by The Delhi Walla - November 26, 20250 Delhi's coolest traffic light [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] What a road, the Lodhi Road. It has to be among Delhi’s most picturesque roads. The Central Delhi avenue passes by the super-beautiful Lodhi Garden. It also passes by India Habitat Centre, the great architect Joseph Stein’s final creation in Delhi. The same road also has the good fortune to pass by India Islamic Centre, the façade of which bears a work of tile art that is intensely reminiscent of Persian architecture. The road also passes by Lodhi Road post office, whose painted boundary walls evoke the ambiance of Madhubani art. And here’s the icing on the cake—Lodhi Road culminates at a traffic light that has to be among Delhi’s prettiest
City Monument – Old Landmarks, Mehrauli Monuments by The Delhi Walla - November 7, 20250 Not Old Delhi, but older Delhi. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is Old Delhi. There is also older Delhi. A lot many monuments of Mehrauli were already centuries-old by the time Shahjahan laid the foundation of Old Delhi some 400 years ago. In an attempt to exhaustively dig into the innards of historic Mehrauli, we start with a handful of monuments. They are not as world-famous as Mehrauli’s most touristy monument (guess which!), but are perhaps more deeply entrenched into the region’s social and cultural landscape. Jahaz Mahal is said to look like a jahaz, a ship. Legend has it that its reflection on the rippling wavelets of an adjacent lake were said to resemble a ship on sail.
City Monument – Beautiful Door, Gali Badliyan Monuments by The Delhi Walla - October 27, 20250 A door is gone. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Ignorance can be kind, for sometimes there is no comfort in the truth. This piece of news unfolded some time ago, but without catching the notice of the world. The lingering ignorance kept a thing alive that was no longer alive. It was among Delhi’s most beautiful doors. See photo—snapped four years ago. The door is gone. The door was in Old Delhi’s Gali Badliyan, an alley so ordinary that only an unreasonably optimistic person would have explored it to seek an object of such profound beauty. The wooden door marked the entrance to a private house that had rust-coloured walls and a finely sculpted balcony. One of the members of the household's extended family
City Monument – Munda Gumbad, Deer Park Monuments by The Delhi Walla - October 17, 20250 Atop the bald. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] How is it like to sit on a bald head? You may find the answer in a Delhi monument. The “munda” in the name of Munda Gumbad means bald, and this stone pavilion gets such an unusual name because of its disappeared dome. The monument is no city secret, but neither is it well known. May be because it has the misfortune of being in a locality that is rich with far more important moments. The centuries-old edifice lies inside south Delhi’s Deer Park, and stands on the flattened top of a grassy mound. The mound overlooks a smelly lake. The other side of the lake faces the far more picturesque monuments of Hauz Khas