Day Three in Dazzling Delhi: Mehrauli Archeological Park, Ambavatta One Complex, Exploring Lodi Colony’s Art District, Tea at Elma’s, Visiting Lotus Temple and Dilli Haath Exhibition, Driving Tour of New Delhi by Night and Dinner at Karim’s of Chandni Chowk

Monday, February 3, 2025

Delhi

Day Three in Dazzling Delhi: Mehrauli Archeological Park, Ambavatta One Complex, Exploring Lodi Colony’s Art District, Tea at Elma’s, Visiting Lotus Temple and Dilli Haath Exhibition, Driving Tour of New Delhi by Night and Dinner at Karim’s of Chandni Chowk

Today, our time in Delhi was crammed with such a vast variety of items to see and to do that it was far in excess of what I had expected

Breakfast and Off to Mehrauli:

After rising at leisure, we showered and made our way to the café for our complimentary breakfast of masala omlettes with buttered toast (and jam), fresh fruit (papaya, apples, bananas), cornflakes with milk and hot coffee. Well filled to meet the rigors of the day, we set out on foot to Mandi House Metro Station from where we took the metro to Qutb Minar Station (end of the line) as our aim was to get to Mehrauli which is beyond the outskirts of the city. By this point, we had mastered the Metro drill and knew how to get from one spot to the next while staying underground and avoiding Delhi’s notorious road traffic. Little did we guess what a convoluted journey we would have.

Once we alighted at the Qutb Minar Station, our nightmare began. Touts advertising the availability of their auto ricks began coaxing us to hire them to get to the Qutb Minar. I was under the impression that we could walk there—but it turned out to be more than 2 miles away! In the end, we hired a rick ourselves and were dropped off at the Qutub Minar. We could not see it at this point, but since we were not interested in going inside—but heading to Mehrauli instead—we did not get into the line to buy tickets.

Using our phones, we thought we’d find our way to Mehrauli Archeological Park that I had read about online. It supposedly contains hundreds of ancient Islamic tombs and mausoleums and strolling around them makes for a wonderful morning’s excursion. However, our phones were far from helpful and when we stopped to ask a group of men who looked like they might be able to guide us on foot, they turned out to be far more helpful than we could have imagined. They immediately offered to send us in a car with their driver. You can just imagine how shocked we were! And delighted! They said it was no trouble at all and, in fact, they actually sent a young man who happened to be in their group, with us, as our guide, on our journey.

So, there we were, in a stranger’s car, with his driver and making conversation with a young man who informed us that not many people go to this venue. And he was right. When we did eventually reach the spot, it was almost deserted. It is so out of the way and so hard to access if one doesn’t have private transport that it is clearly not on anyone’s beaten tourist track.

Exploring Mehrauli Archeological Park:

I have to say that there is nothing much to impress about the entrance to Mehrauli Archaeological Park. The place is really an overgrown jungle studded with Islamic monuments, most of which are in ruin. The few that still stand intact are hoary with age. While some of them are being refurbished slowly (with assistance from the Aga Khan Foundation), the rest languish sadly with few visitors.

We first went to the tombs and mosque of Jamali-Kamali which is the first significant monument that you come across on your wanderings.

The Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb:

This is a Sufi mosque and mausoleum complex that contains the tombs of Jamali and Kamali, located in the archaeological village of Mehrauli, in South Delhi, India. The mosque and the tomb were constructed in 1529, and Jamali was buried in the tomb after his death in 1535. The mosque and tomb structures are a Monument of National Importance, administered by the Archaeological Survey of India. "Jamali" was the alias given to Shaikh Fazlu'llah, also known as Shaikh Jamali Kamboh or Jalal Khan, a renowned Sufi saint who lived duringthe times of the Lodi Dynasty and the Mughal Dynasty, a period from the rule of Sikander Lodi to that of Babur and Humayun.

While we did enter the mosque and noticed its exterior and interior design and its mihrab inside, we did not linger too long. We were not allowed to enter the adjoining Tomb enclosure as we were told that it is under renovation and out of bounds of visitors. After taking a few pictures we left. However, this 1500s edifice is significant in that it set the style and tone for tomb-mosques to follow. The name "Jamali" is Urdu, though originates from "Jamal" which means "beauty". Jamali was a popular poet who traveled widely around Asia and the Middle East. He became court poet during Lodi Dynasty rule and continued to enjoy the patronage of the Mughal rulers, Babur and his son Humayun. His poetry mirrored Persian mysticism of the times. His two popular works are The Sun and Moon and The Spiritual Journey of the Mystics. It is said that his tomb was completed during Humayun's rule. Kamali was an unknown individual who served as Jamali's disciple.

The Kings Steps or Rajaon Ki Baoli:

Walking out of this compound complex, we next arrived at the Rajaon ki Baoli (King’s Steps) which was a very long walk away. The complex is huge and you must be in good shape to be able to undertake all the walking that is involved as you go from one monument to the next. When we did find the King’s Steps, they were spectacular. It is Delhi’s most significant step-well. There are stairs that lead down to the water’s level, deep below. It is evident that refurbishment is being carried out as parts of it are now in brand-new shape while others still wear age on their sleeves. Again, after taking a few pictures, we left.

From this point on, we walked a few steps and right ahead of us were a series of cenotaphs concealed under domed structures. Many of the people buried here remain anonymous and some refurbishment allowed us to admire the architectural features and embellishment. We did take a few pictures and left.

Finally, our last port of call was Adham Khan’s Mausoleum, which is across the street from the park and the Mehrauli Bus Terminus, which towered in front of us in quite imposing gait. However, by then we had seen too many mausoleums that were very similar and were also tired and hungry and did not feel motivated to cross the street to enter it. Instead, we began to look for a rickshaw to take us for lunch and the place we chose was Cho, an award-winning Vietnamese restaurant that my friend Sangeeta had insisted we visit. A rickshaw did show up, eventually, and about five minutes later, after a very short ride, we were at the Ambavatta One Complex.

Exploring the Ambavatta One Complex:

The Ambavatta One Complex is well-known in Delhi. Although it is in faraway Mehrauli, it is a showcase for the finest work of India’s best-known fashion designers from Anita Dongre and Manish Malhotra to Falguni Shah Peacock and Tarun Tahiliani—indeed all the huge names are here. Needless to say, the biggest daddy of them all, Sabyasachi, has his own adjoining showroom, in its own compound next door.

The Complex is beautifully designed as an outdoor shopping arcade. It has dual floors with the designer showrooms on the ground floor and upscale restaurants (such as Cho) on the first floor. Great landscaping brings trees, flowers and potted greenery to the place. The end result is a very elitist space that offers big-time sticker shock. We merely skirted around the shops before finding out where Cho was located and getting there for lunch.

Lunch at Vietnamese Cho Restaurant:

As we adored the food in Vietnam, it made sense that we seek out a Vietnamese restaurant and Cho did not disappoint. Its décor is very pretty indeed—a sort of tropical jungle vibe with cool sophistication. We were the only people lunching in the establishment which, I presume, must have more clientele at dinner time. Once handed our menus, we decided first on a cool drink as all our trekking through the park had rendered us really dehydrated and very thirsty. We both chose something called a Mango Colada—a mixture of mango and pineapple juices with thyme highlights and vanilla ice-cream—it was refreshing and very delicious.

From the menu, we then selected Bahn Mi—the famous Vietnamese sandwich that is usually filled with a variety of meats (pate is a must—although there was none in our sandwich) and pickled veg—this was certainly present in the pickled cucumber. Ours had a breaded chicken cutlet in it which was very good and crisp. Overall, it was a very delicious sandwich, made better by the accompanying sweet-sour sauce. We also ordered Chicken Pho, as it is a dish (hearty soup with a flavorful broth) we can never resist. This was okay--nothing like the pho we had eaten in Vietnam or, best of all, in a small eatery in Hawai’i, which remains the best Pho we had ever eaten. Overall, it was a wonderful meal eaten in a delightful atmosphere.

Out friends Allan and Anita were supposed to join us for the rest of the day and after hearing from them, we made arrangements to meet them at Lodi Colony so that we could begin our tour of the Artist’s Colony.

Exploring the Lodi Colony Art District:

The Lodi Colony Art District was another thing I got to know about from doing some prior research before leaving for Delhi. As Anita is also an artist, I thought it would make sense to take her there and as she and Allan were game, we met them at a street corner in Lodi Colony after we alighted from the rickshaw that transported us from Ambavatta to Lodi Colony.

We soon discovered that the art work is splattered, in the form of murals, on all the walls of this vast colony that consists of a series of soft pink buildings. A few years ago, someone came up with the idea of inviting international artists to paint the sides of the buildings—their entrances really—with larger-than-life size murals to bring some color and interest to the plain walls. The end result is best seen in a car (which we were fortunate to have) as Anita and Allan came in a car with a driver, Mahesh. He drove us around from one block to the next. We stopped and alighted from the car if we saw paintings that caught our eye and would make a good backdrop for pictures. More than half an hour later, we had toured most of the area on wheels, taken a bunch of very interesting pictures of paintings done by international artists from India, Belgium, Singapore, etc. It is interesting how sportingly these artists joined in to make this a truly fascinating part of Delhi.

Tea at Elma’s Tea Room:

Once we were done with exploring the art district, we were ready for some refreshment. Anita’s friends told us about coffee shops in the area and off we went to look for them. We found Elma’s close by and inside ordered tea, coffee, and French fries as Anita was hungry. We sat for about half an hour and left for the next item on our agenda.

Visiting the Lotus Temple of the Bahai Faith:

Anita’s friend also suggested the Lotus Temple, a very unique structure that symbolizes the Bahai Faith of which there are very few practitioners around the world. Most of the Lotus Temples have the same design—I had been taken to one of them just outside Chicago by my friend, Marie-Lou, many years ago. There is also one in Haifa in Israel. There is a similar uniformity to all of them—white, imposing, structured like an open lotus flower.

Sadly, when we arrived at the spot, we discovered that it is closed on Mondays—hence, we could not enter the gates or go inside. We could take pictures from the outside just as the sun was setting over Delhi, This lent a lovely hazy orange backdrop to our pictures of the pure white temple. Without wasting too much time at this spot, we left.

Visiting the Dilli-Haath Exhibition:

It was Anita’s friends again who had suggested the Dilli-Haath exhibition which turned out to be a large open-air exhibition/fair/market filled with stalls showcasing the work of India’s artists and craftsmen from all over the country. There is an entry fee of Rs. 50 and with that, you have free access to the stalls of hundreds of people who have pretty much the same merchandise. Almost every second stall was from Kashmir and there is an abundance of items from carpets and shawls to stoles, kurtas, embroidered table linen to footwear, etc. Other stalls sell handicrafts, jewelry, framed wall art, leather bags, pashmina shawls, etc. It is a good way to pass an entire evening if you can find the time and have a little extra cash to spend on gifts for yourself or others. While Anita did some shopping, I merely browsed. And soon it was time to leave these precincts also and move on.

A Driving Tour of Delhi By Night:

Our evening with our friends ended with them obliging us fully by taking us on a driving tour of Delhi by night. This enabled us to see major contemporary monuments such as Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate both on The Mall lit up in all their colorful glory. India Gate has tri-colored bands at the top in red, white and green (colors of the Indian national flag) while Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s House) has a laser light program that floods the outer walls with changing colors. One minute it is a garish pink, another time a fluorescent green. To my mind, there is nothing subtle or appealing about it. Furthermore, we were viewing it from a very long distance as you are not allowed, for Security reasons, to go anywhere close to these buildings. I understand that visitors are free to tour the buildings with special permission…but I had seen the inside of these buildings many years ago and had no desire to see them again. For first-time visitors to Dehi, I guess this would be a must-see. For me, the opportunity to see the monuments lit up was the reason for taking the tour. And after getting a few pictures, we were ready to call it a day—but not before eating some dinner.

Dinner at Karim’s at Chandni Chowk:

So, we were then all set to drive to crowded Old Delhi—to Chandni Chowk, to be precise—to eat at a renowned and most legendary eatery in Delhi, Karim’s. Except that Anita’s sister dissuaded her from eating there and she conveyed her hesitation to us. We were not daunted and decided to go ahead anyway. Hence, after Anita’s driver Mahesh, managed to negotiate the congested, maze-like labyrinth of Chandni Chowk, he brought us right opposite the famous mosque (the largest in the world)—the Jama Masjid—at which point, we parted company. Anita and Allan left after we said our goodbyes to them and we footed it off to Karim’s by simply heading closer and closer to the mosque.

We found Karim’s soon enough after a rather excruciating journey on foot through crowds of people either going into or emerging from the mosque or exploring the street to find dinner as there are several well-known places for typical North Indian Islamic food in the area. However, Karim’s is the oldest and most reputed of them all—and so, that was where we were headed. Inside, by taking a very narrow alleyway, we opened into a large courtyard filled with tiny rooms—all of which were parts of the same restaurant.

The menu is limited but centered on meat dishes. We ordered chicken seekh kebabs which were awesome and nalli-nihari, a popular North Indian curry dish that consists of slow-cooked meat. While it was okay, Llew definitely makes a far better nihari! We ordered rumali rotis to go with our meal and really had a good end to a very interesting and fully packed day.

All that was left, was to walk to the Jama Masjid metro station (we had passed it en route to the restaurant), buy our tickets and ride all the way to Mandi House from where we hotfooted it off to our residence.

Indeed, it had been a very long day and we were ready to call it a night.

Until tomorrow, cheerio…