Panorama of Chunnalmal's haveli

Another panoramic image of Old Delhi. This is the historic haveli of Chunna Mal (sometimes also written as Chunnamal) in Chandni Chowk.

Seth Chunnamal was at one time perhaps the richest and the most influential Indian in Shahjahanbad. This was in the turbulent years after the revolt(mutiny) of 1857. His haveli(mansion) in the central street of Shahjahanbad is an extensive building that used to be in its heyday a cynosure of all eyes. It is still fairly well preserved, unlike many other fascinating structures in the same area that are crumbling and decaying into nothingness.Unfortunately, we in India are not strong on historical preservation.We will fight, agitate and become violent at some some perceived 'insult' to some historical personality even as the monuments that truly embody  our heritage rot and disintegrate. I made a film about it called the Losing Heritage- the case of Chunnamal's haveli.

  The historic haveli of Chunna Mal in Chandni Chowk  - click for a larger image

Delhi in panoramic photos

Starting a new feature on this blog -panoramic images of Delhi. First off the mark, the historic Gurudwara Sis Ganj and it's surroundings located in the old city of Delhi, known in Mughal times as Shahjahanabad.

 Panoramic image of  Gurudwara Sis Ganj  -click to see larger image

It's no good posting a panorama if you don't click it to see it in it's extensive glory.So do click on the image.

Children have all the fun

Cooling down after school at the India Gate.

Golden God

Lord Buddha at the Tibetan Monastery in Delhi

The Cat on Jahanara's tomb

More cats, this time on the latticed enclosure of Mughal princess Jahanara's grave, right next the dargah(shrine) of the saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia (d. 1325 A.D.)

The inscription on the tomb reads as follows:

He is the Living, the Sustaining.
Let no one cover my grave except with greenery,
for this very grass suffices as a tomb cover for the poor.
The annihilated fakir Lady Jahanara,
Disciple of the lords of Chisht,
Daughter of Shah Jahan the Warrior
(may God illuminate his proof).

Interestingly there's a novel on Jahanara by John Shors-
The Life of a Mogul Princess Jahanara Begum: Daughter of Shahjahan 

Unfortunately I haven't yet read it, so I cannot comment on it.

And speaking of winters

Speaking of winters, I posted this last year at The Liberty Blog-

Lovat Fraser writing in 1903 had this to say* of Delhi winters-

I never dreamed of  this, and I cannot stand it. I should think there is nothing in the world like the cold of  Delhi. It is not that it is severe; it is the quality of  it that knocks you over. Dry cold in other places is invigorating and stimulating. This is a sort of  dead cold, and reduces you to a clammy corpse. It creeps in everywhere; the thickest overcoats are not proof  against it. From ten in the morning to five in the afternoon I live; then the climate is delightful. But that is just the time when I want to be out seeing things; and when I start at night to write, my brain is congealed. It will not work, not will my hand hold the pen. Do you know how I wrote my last letter? My servant kept replenishing a basin of  hot water on the table, and I dipped my fingers  into it at the end of  every sentence. How can I write decently under such conditions? And this is your coral strand! Never will I grumble at the English winter again.

*Lovat Fraser. At Delhi. Bombay: Times of India; London:W.Thacker&Co.,
1903. pp. 55-6. 

Gymming gods

At a temple near Delhi Gate, an image of a lean and muscular god.

Do the gods go gymming?