Secret Delhi

For a deeper encounter with the city, a place of grand architecture, history, culture and cuisine, Rosalyn D’Mello speaks to its keepers

There is unspeakable pleasure in being granted access into marvellous spaces, into worlds we wouldn’t have otherwise known. Like with the mysterious man in Paolo Sorrentino’s film The Great Beauty who is entrusted with the keys to abandoned palaces in Rome. Similarly, Delhi has its own secrets, hidden treasures packed with flavour, culture, the grandeur of Mughal architecture, history and so much more. A side to the city you probably never knew existed and are unlikely to have spotted, explored and taken in without the help of some insider intel.

ARCHITECTURAL MARVELS

Conservation architect Gurmeet Sangha Rai recommends Zafar Mahal (Mehrauli Village Market), the erstwhile palace of Bahadur Shah Zafar. “He used to come here to seek respite from the British, who had taken over Red Fort,” she says. The proximity to the dargah of Hazrat Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, to whom Hazrat Nizamuddin Chishti draws his lineage, may have offered solace. Beside the dargah is the naqqar khana, a medieval gateway that housed soldiers and musicians.

Ratish Nanda, also a conservation architect, points to Chausath Khambha (Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti). For its restoration, each of its 25 domes had to be dismantled and repaired. “It’s an incredible building of white marble and a precursor to Shah Jahan’s audience halls,” Nanda says.

The Sunder Burj (Sunder Nursery) has a stunning ceiling representing a star-studded sky. “It’s a joy to stand under,” he says, also picking the Nila Gumbad (Nizamuddin East, not to be confused with the octagonal tomb of Sabz Burj). “After 50 years, it’s accessible again through Humayun’s Tomb.”