Would you like to join some heritage walks on the weekends in Delhi organized by INTACH or DELHI HERITAGE WALKS? They are really well organized, and led by highly informed people who really know their subject. (This is not an advertisement for INTACH or DELHI HERITAGE WALKS, but I am sharing this with you as I felt you could be interested.)

INTACH WALKS
As before, you need to register separately for each walk.  Email Intach at intachdelhi@rediffmail.com. If that is inconvenient then you may ring them the following numbers between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on working days: 24632267; 24632269; 24631818; extension- 105

Mehrauli Archaeological Park:
Day/ Date: Saturday, 19th June’10
Time: 8.00 am
Duration: 2 hrs approx.
Charges: Rs.50/- per person
The walk covers Balban’s tomb, Jamali Kamali’s mosque and tomb, Metcalfe’s bridge, Boathouse, Quli Khan’s tomb, Metcalfe’s Guest house, Rajon ki Baoli, Mosque and tomb, Serai , Maulana Majduddin’s tomb and Khan Shahid’s tomb.

DU Darshan:
Day/ Date: Sunday, 20th June’10
Time: 7.00 am
Duration: 2 hrs approx
Charges: Rs.150/- per person
North campus of Delhi University has a rich cultural heritage. To ensure that this rich cultural heritage is noticed and appreciated, SRCC-SIFE team has taken an initiative to organize regular weekend trips to visit these monuments.

Lodi Garden:
Day/Date: Sunday, 20th June’10
Time: 8.00 am
Duration: 1 and half hour approx.
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
A beautiful landscaped garden set in the midst of New Delhi, this park contains some exquisite examples of medieval architecture.  There are Syed and Lodi tombs and mosques, a Mughal garden and mosque, and other scattered structures.

Hauz Khas:
Day/ Date: Sunday, 27th June’10
Time: 8.00 am
Duration: 2 hrs approx.
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
The highlights of this area are the thirteenth century reservoir which has now been revived and teems with bird life; and the buildings of a renowned Madarsa beside which is also the tomb of its royal founder, Firoz Shah Tughlaq.  Several other
pavilions, tombs and mosques are to be found in the surrounding park.

DELHI HERITAGE WALKS

Hauz Khas:
Day/Date: Saturday,19th June’10
Time: 5.30 pm
Duration: 1 & ½ hours
Charges: Rs. 200

Chandni Chowk:
Day/Date: Sunday,20th June’10
Time: 7.30 am
Duration: approx. 2 hrs
Charges: Rs. 200

To know more about the Delhi Heritage Walks, look at their blog http://blog.delhiheritagewalks.com/

Would you like to participate in any of the excellent heritage walks conducted by INTACH’s Delhi Chapter in October 2009? Here is a calendar for the month – if you really want to know the city, then we suggest you do sign up too.

Chandni Chowk
Day/Date: Saturday, 3rd October’09
Time: 8.00 am
Duration:  2 hrs. Approx
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
The walk covers the Shri Digambara Jain Lal Mandir, Gauri Shankar temple, State Bank of India, Central Baptist Church, Sisganj Gurudwara, Sunheri Masjid, Paranthewali gali, Naughara, Dharampura, and Gali Guliyan. The walk ends at the gate of the Jama Masjid.

Nizamuddin
Day/ Date: Sunday, 11th October’09
Time: 8.00am
Duration: 2 hrs. Approx
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
The focus of this area is the living shrine of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Aulia.  Apart from the tomb of the saint, there is a thirteenth century mosque, several beautiful Mughal tombs and the tomb of Ghalib the great Urdu poet of the nineteenth century.

Mehrauli Archaeological Park
Day/ Date: Saturday, 24th October’09
Time: 8.00 am
Duration: 2 hrs approx.
Charges: Rs.50/- per person
The walk covers Balban’s tomb, Jamali Kamali’s mosque and tomb, Metcalfe’s bridge, Boathouse, Quli Khan’s tomb, Metcalfe’s Guest house, Rajon ki Baoli, Mosque and tomb, Serai , Maulana Majduddin’s tomb and Khan Shahid’s tomb.

Lodi Garden
Day/Date: Sunday, 25th October’09
Time: 8.00 am
Duration: 1 and half hour approx.
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
A beautiful landscaped garden set in the midst of New Delhi, this park contains some exquisite examples of medieval architecture.  There are Syed and Lodi tombs and mosques, a Mughal garden and mosque, and other scattered structures.

Hauz Khas
Day/ Date: Sunday, 31st October’09
Time: 8.00 am
Duration: 2 hrs approx.
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
The highlights of this area are the thirteenth century reservoir which has now been revived and teems with bird life; and the buildings of a renowned Madarsa beside which is also the tomb of its royal founder, Firoz Shah Tughlaq.  Several other pavilions, tombs and mosques are to be found in the surrounding park.

How to Register? You need to register separately for each walk.  Email INTACH at walks@intachdelhichapter.org If that is inconvenient then you may ring on the following numbers between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on working days: 011-24632267; 24632269; 24631818; extension- 105

Would you like to join some heritage walks on weekend mornings in Delhi organized by INTACH? They are really well organized, and led by highly informed people who really know their subject. INTACH is a non-profit, set up in 1984 to protect and conserve India’s natural and cultural heritage. I have appended below their note on the walks that I had received. (This is not an advertisement for INTACH, but I am sharing this with you as I felt you could be interested.)

NOTE FROM INTACH

In the month of February INTACH brings you three special walks in addition to the five that we have been doing regularly.  The first is in Daryganj, a part of the seventeenth-century city of Shahjahanabad, which also has some interesting late colonial architecture.  The second is within the complex of the Qutub Minar, one of the three UNESCO World Heritage sites in Delhi.  The third is through the historic village of Mehrauli – which incorporates structures ranging across a long span of time, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

As before, you need to register separately for each walk.  Email us at intachdelhi@rediffmail.com If that is inconvenient then you may ring on the following numbers between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on working days:

24632267; 24632269; 24631818; extension- 105

Nizamuddin:
Day/ Date: Sunday, 1st Feb’09
Time: 8.15 am
Duration: 2 hrs. Approx
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
The focus of this area is the living shrine of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Aulia.  Apart from the tomb of the saint, there is a thirteenth century mosque, several beautiful Mughal tombs and the tomb of Ghalib the great Urdu poet of the nineteenth century.

Chandni Chowk:
Day/Date: Saturday, 7th Feb’09
Time: 8.15 am
Duration:  2 hrs. Approx
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
The walk covers the Shri Digambara Jain Lal Mandir, Gauri Shankar temple, State Bank of India, Central Baptist Church, Sisganj Gurudwara, Sunheri Masjid, Paranthewali gali, Naughara, Dharampura, and Gali Guliyan. The walk ends at the gate of the Jama Masjid.

Daryaganj
Day/ Date: Sunday, 8th Feb’09
Time: 8.15 am
Duration: 2 hrs. Approx
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
The walk goes through the publishing hub of Delhi which is also a significant historic area.  The highlights include the elaborate fortifications of the walled city, two royal Mughal mosques, and streets lines with many structures with late colonial architectural features –including houses, commercial and institutional buildings.

Qutub Minar
Day/ Date: Saturday, 14th Feb’09
Time: 8.15 am
Duration: 2 hrs. Approx
Charges: Rs. 100/- per person PLUS TICKET CHARGES.  Please note that each person will have to buy their own ticket to enter the complex.
The Qutub Minar complex is a premier visitor attraction of the city.  The walk will explore structures such as the Qutub Mosque, the Tomb of Iltutmish, the Madarsa, gateway and incomplete Minar of Allauddin.  Also of course we will look at and discuss the Qutub Minar and the repairs and modifications in it down the centuries, including the additions during British rule.

Mehrauli Archaeological Park:
Day/ Date: Sunday, 15th Feb’09
Time: 8.15 am
Duration: 2 hrs approx.
Charges: Rs.50/- per person
The walk covers Balban’s tomb, Jamali Kamali’s mosque and tomb, Metcalfe’s bridge, Boathouse, Quli Khan’s tomb, Metcalfe’s Guest house, Rajon ki Baoli, Mosque and tomb, Serai , Maulana Majduddin’s tomb and Khan Shahid’s tomb.

Mehrauli Village
Day/Date: Saturday, 21st Feb’09
Time: 8.15 am
Duration:  2 hrs. Approx
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
This walk traverses the length of the village of Mehrauli, taking is sights such as the tomb of Adham Khan, palace of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah, a large thirteenth century reservoir and the palace beside it, and finally the Jharna – pleasure pavilions beside a now dry waterfall.

Lodi Garden:
Day/Date: Sunday, 22nd Feb’09
Time: 8.15 am
Duration: 1 and half hour approx.
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
A beautiful landscaped garden set in the midst of New Delhi, this park contains some exquisite examples of medieval architecture.  There are Syed and Lodi tombs and mosques, a Mughal garden and mosque, and other scattered structures.

Hauz Khas:
Day/ Date: Saturday, 28th Feb’09
Time: 8.15 am
Duration: 2 hrs approx.
Charges: Rs. 50/- per person
The highlights of this area are the thirteenth century reservoir which has now been revived and teems with bird life; and the buildings of a renowned Madarsa beside which is also the tomb of its royal founder, Firoz Shah Tughlaq.  Several other pavilions, tombs and mosques are to be found in the surrounding park.