Today, on the 26th of December, our school took us on a trip to Mehrauli Archaeological Park, located in Mehrauli (!). I must say, it was TOTALLY worth it.
As we entered through the gates, the first site that met our eyes was a path carved out in the middle of a jungle of trees. It was that typical grow-on-its-own vegetation that you get to see in serials of medieval India like
Maharana Pratap etc. On walking a bit further, we met our guide. There was one guide for each section.
The first thing that the guide communicated was how much knowledge we all had about this place. A couple of kids had typed 'Mehrauli Archaeological park' to view what was in store for us the next day. As for me, I knew that my brother had visited this place before but frankly speaking, I had little knowledge of the contents of the treasure. As I came to the front of the crowd, our guide told us that this place hadn't been recognized by ASI, so INTACH did the work. A few bunch of people know of what this place is, and she told us we need to spread that message. That's why conservation and restoration work was going on there with its one aim - of reviewing our medieval glory.
Okay, so let's come back to the point. Even the adjoining villages nearby don't know how special this place is and the children come her to play cricket, unconsionable of what lays behing all those spiky trees and all.
With the hope of discovering more, we trotted forward. Basically, the place consists of the ruins of that part of the Medieval period when the Delhi Sultanate was established and the Turks ruled our country (all those Khaljis, Tughlaqs and Lodhis. 7th grade History. Bah). You must have seen the Tughlaqabad Fort from outside. Imagine those bricks. The ruins were made exactly of those kinds of bricks. On asking their variety, the guide told me 'local Delhi bricks'. That's suitable, for all monuments have their bricks in common.
Balban's Tomb
First we visited the ruins of Balban's Tomb, where actually Balban's son is buried. I loved that first impression. As soon as we entered, we were introduced to arches. Like pillars were used in Hindu temples, arches were used in Islamic structures, both to ensure the longevity of the structures. In the middle of every arch, there is the keystone which supports the weight of all surrounding bricks and adds beauty to the strucure. There were hundreds of arches all over. Everywhere you looked, I ensure you you would spot an arch. Personally, I liked the idea of arches better than the pillars, both in terms of strenght and beauty.
So, where were we? We trotted forward into that ghostly ruin, hearing about arches. Then our guide asked us, 'Do you people know the sacred place of Muslims?' We had studied about it, and we were prompt in our reply, 'Mecca in Saudi Arabia!' The guide asked us the direction in which it lies from our country. That will be West. So, were told that always in these structures, the western wall was extravagantly distinguished from the others, to pay their respects to Allah. Literally, this was the case in every single structure. Wherever we went, we always knew where the West lies.
Through a space n the structure, we could see the place where Balban's son was buried. There was a cuboidal structure placed upon his spot of burial, where inscriptions in Persian were written upon the upper boundary of the structure. On inquiring, we came to know that the writings were from the Quran. As usual, the western wall was distinguished. The remaining parts of the structure were tall, which was a kind of, you know, surprising-cum-nice thing. On looking up, we saw little traces of blue stone which had apparently fallen off. That blue was the most beautiful one that has ever met my eyes.
On imaging this medieval scene, there came into my mind bearded men in turbans, praying between thes colourfully tinted walls. Qawalli music was playing behind. It had a completely out-of-this-world feel. At one moment, I wished I lived at the time India was called 'Sone ki Chidiya'.
To carry on our path, we had to climb five or six stairs. They were really large- we thought that the people must be a bit oversized and
hatte-katte in those days.
If we are interested in something, time runs really fast it could win the race if we don't carry on forward. So we did exactly that.
Jamali - Kamalis's Mosque
Next we visited Jamali - Kamali's Mosque. Jamali was a saint-poet and Kamali was his beloved. On asking whether Kamali was male or female, we were told to just wait and watch.
The door was an arch. as usual. But it was beautiful. Lotus buds were emerging from its boundaries. This was Indo-Islamic architecture, as the lotus was originally from India. Why was the lotus so important. The reason is based on philosophy. The lotus flower grows in mud, yet it remains so royal. It teaches us the lesson not to lose hope enen in the darkest of times. The Turks omitted human figures from Indian architecture, as they thought they weren't showing the respect. However, they used some things like the lotus flower. The style of the pillars (which can be mad as the base of the arches) was original - pot underneath and coconut on top; after that, the pillar.
The western wall was good - there were inscriptions from the Quran, and a star was inscribed, which is the symbol of male and female. So, we thought, possible Kamali was female. Still no answer.
There was a really high dome on the top. Here we were told about the mechanism of domes. Arches are built going up to the dome. The number of arches are the powers of 2 and the arches increase as we ascend to the top and finally reach the dome. This makes the dome strong.
One thing I noticed outside on the dome were people's names. This can surely anger me - how can people not think about our ancient glory? How can someone be so irresponsible? If this is India, there is surely need for change.
Thomas Metcalfe's Folly
Now we come back to the point. In the 17th century, a British man Thomas Metcalfe visited this place and fell in love with it. He started living here and altered the place a bit. On the top of an artificial hill, was built a plain, simple, dome-like structure that felt like plain noodles in front of a hot bowl of spicy Hakka noodles. So, this place was named 'Thomas Metcalfe's Folly', or mistake.
From there, we had a good view of the top of Qutab Minar. We could see the white marble which was put by the later Turks when the original sandstone fell, possibly due to lightning.
Jamali - Kamali's Tomb
The next attraction was these two lovers' tomb. From the outside, is was built from white stone, so we we went inside. Now, Jamali was a great saint. So, many people autonatically wanted to get buried near him. There were the graves of many other people who had the respect to be buried near Jamali.
In the center of this raised structure, stood a single small, dome-like building. We entered it. The first sight that met our eyes was indescribable. Enlightening. Our mouths fell open. On the roof, there was an elegant, intricate design of blue, red and such colours. It was giving a God-like feel to the inside. In front of the door was the tombstone of Jamali, and beside it, much smaller, that of Kamali. At the back, there was a scren, which were the curtains of that period. Sunlight entered in a filtered way, which made the mood more intense, yet more quiet.
We came to know that Kamali was male, a disciple of Jamali's. You could spot the gender of the person from their tombstone. In those days, all men were supposed to be literate amd the women were illiterate. So, on the men's tombstones, there was a raised feather pen-like structure. That's how we came to know all about it.
Rajon ki Baoli
Our destination prochaine was Rajon ki baoli. 'Rajon' means chief mason. So, it was the baoli whose water was used for the need of the chief masons and construction work. It was a three-storey baoli. The steps were, of course, large. So, the baoli was a bit deep and we weren't allowed to descend more than four or five steps.
The guide told us that water in a baoli comes from a well. The water is not for drinking, but people could bathe in it. Nowadays, the condition of most of the baolis is the same - a pile of rubbish at the bottom. Pity, really.
Time was tight and we had to move.
The Bridge over the Lake and the Birdhouse
As we were moving on, our guide, with whom we were on informal terms now, told us that birds were breeded near the lake. We had to give the reason. During this in-between walk (despite the fact that the path was inlaid with pigs' poops and pigs themselves), Our minds were occupied with the scenes of birds fluttering over the water and splashing amongst it.
When we reached the bridge over the dried-up lake built by Thomas Metcalfe, we came to know that if any water-borne disease is born inside the water, the birds will get affected first and foremost. The people will be warned, and a cure would be formulated. This seemed a bit cruel at first, but then our guide told us about the number of people who would have died, and all of us ended the cribbing.
Just at the end of this bridge was a structure with many arches covered by a dome. At its end near the water was a dock, where people who came to meet the fool Britisher entered. Just as you walked through these arches, you will see a large building in front of you, namely the...
Quli Khan's Tomb, titled 'Dil-Khush' by Thomas Metcalfe
Quli Khan was one of the sons of Mahamanga (foster-mother of Akbar). His tomb had been built here but this Britisher altered it according to his own whims and fancies. The building served as his guest house, 'Dil-Khush'. In his drawing room, the dome-like roof was really beautifully patterned with the blue colour. At the back of this building, was another of Thomas Metcalfe's folly.
Qutab Minar was really close now and we could see it pretty well, but it lies outside the boundaries of this complex. Time was running, so we returned back to our bus to make way for school.
In the bus, I sat thinking. This place was one of the best places I've ever visited and I'll cherish these memories in my heart forever.
