DeepuBhatia
BegumpuriMosqueBrokenDome
Rediscovering Delhi 2011
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06/16/2011
Today's my first day back in Delhi. I am off on a month's vacation and on my agenda is a hope to re-discover Delhi. To check out places that have existed here since time immemorial. Yet, I never thought much about them growing up amongst these wonderful historical monuments.
I hope to capture these dilapidated monuments in my camera. They have withstood the onslaught of time and give Delhi that unique blend of a glorious past, interwoven with the threads of different cultures, and a dynamic booming future threatened by a population boosting at its seams.
Begumpuri Mosque
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Just a short walking distance from where I stay. Surrounded by urban Delhi and close to the Sarvapriya Vihar metro station, it's the latest addition on the Metro line that snakes through the heart of Delhi cutting commuting time drastically.
Yet, this monument of time seems lost and out of place. Desperately searching for it's place in this city.
Perhaps an identity crisis? It lies as if uncared surrounded by rubble, yet standing tall majestically...
This grand, yet simple mosque was most probably built around the 14th century by Mohammad Tughlaq era minister, Khan Jahan Junan Shah. It's surrounded by the Kalusarai village today.
The western side of the mosque faces Mecca and was probably used for Friday prayers. This mosque is dead today and lies in ruins. Although the periphery is fenced off by the ASI, kids use it as a play area and wannabe lovers write graffiti all over the ancient walls that have borne witness to the passage of time.
The mosque was built on a raised plinth perhaps to harness the soft breeze. There are 44 domes on three sides and has a small staircase, on the left, leading up to the roof. Some of the ASI repairs have been undertaken using regular bricks and some of the domes appear to have been plastered recently.
The courtyard is pretty big and covers approximately 90,000 sq ft. It's the second biggest mosque after Jama Masjid.
On the right is a small staircase that I could not even dream of squeezing into. It probably led into the women's mosque, called the zenana mosque.
BegumpuriMosqueBrokenDome
Rediscovering Delhi 2011
---------------------------------------
06/16/2011
Today's my first day back in Delhi. I am off on a month's vacation and on my agenda is a hope to re-discover Delhi. To check out places that have existed here since time immemorial. Yet, I never thought much about them growing up amongst these wonderful historical monuments.
I hope to capture these dilapidated monuments in my camera. They have withstood the onslaught of time and give Delhi that unique blend of a glorious past, interwoven with the threads of different cultures, and a dynamic booming future threatened by a population boosting at its seams.
Begumpuri Mosque
-----------------
Just a short walking distance from where I stay. Surrounded by urban Delhi and close to the Sarvapriya Vihar metro station, it's the latest addition on the Metro line that snakes through the heart of Delhi cutting commuting time drastically.
Yet, this monument of time seems lost and out of place. Desperately searching for it's place in this city.
Perhaps an identity crisis? It lies as if uncared surrounded by rubble, yet standing tall majestically...
This grand, yet simple mosque was most probably built around the 14th century by Mohammad Tughlaq era minister, Khan Jahan Junan Shah. It's surrounded by the Kalusarai village today.
The western side of the mosque faces Mecca and was probably used for Friday prayers. This mosque is dead today and lies in ruins. Although the periphery is fenced off by the ASI, kids use it as a play area and wannabe lovers write graffiti all over the ancient walls that have borne witness to the passage of time.
The mosque was built on a raised plinth perhaps to harness the soft breeze. There are 44 domes on three sides and has a small staircase, on the left, leading up to the roof. Some of the ASI repairs have been undertaken using regular bricks and some of the domes appear to have been plastered recently.
The courtyard is pretty big and covers approximately 90,000 sq ft. It's the second biggest mosque after Jama Masjid.
On the right is a small staircase that I could not even dream of squeezing into. It probably led into the women's mosque, called the zenana mosque.