Monumental neglect

Prachin Shiv mandir hai. Mughalon ke zamane se hai, 50 saal se bhi zyada purana... humare dada ke time se,” says 17-year-old Adil Beniwal, pointing to a temple in Chirag Dilli — once a glorious fort with four gateways and now a bustling urban village in the capital. His family has been living in the south Delhi neighbourhood for three decades, and offers the same details about the temple.

This is one of the many temples and other structures encroaching upon the already crumbling wall and the gateways of Chirag Dilli that houses the tomb of Nasiruddin Mahmud Chirag-Dehlavi, a 14th-century mystic-poet who was a disciple of noted Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and later became his successor.

Many in the area today may not know much about Dehlavi who had been given the title of Roshan Chirag-e-Delhi and that’s how Chirag Dilli was named. But people continue to visit the temples, unmindful of the crumbling of a glorious past.  

Similar “religious” structures have encroached upon parts of many other monuments and heritage structures in Delhi. Authorities have been reluctant in removing these encroachments for fear of unrest. Often, there is connivance of local authorities and the police with the encroachers.

Lal Gumbad: A victim of lamps & incense

Lal Gumbad in South Delhi’s Malviya Nagar is the perfect example of what religious encroachments can do to a monument and its identity. The main door was damaged a few months ago. Built in the 14th century, it’s a monument of national importance.

“We have been seeing the charred doors for a long time. Nobody ever came for repair,” says Lallan, a local, enjoying his late-afternoon beedi on the premises. “This is a place of worship. Sometimes, people light incense. That may have burnt the door,” he adds.

Also known as the Rakabwala Gumbad, it is a tomb built for Sheikh Kabir-ud-din Auliya, a disciple of Sufi saint Shaikh Roshan Chirag-e-Delhi. Since the disciple of a Sufi saint is buried here, locals believed it to be a sacred site and started lighting lamps and incense, damaging the walls.

Temple in Shah Jahan lodge

During his reign between 1628 and 1658, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the shikargah, a hunting lodge, in Hastsal village near present-day Uttam Nagar in west Delhi. Today, the first floor of the shikargah is abandoned and the ground floor has been completely encroached upon. The outside wall has tiles depicting Hindu deities. A family living next door has constructed a temple within its premises. The temple has been built with white tiles, in complete disharmony with the heritage structure.

“We have been living here for many decades. Our forefathers were born here,” says Suresh Saini, a member of the family that has taken over the shikargah courtyard. “We use this space to dry clothes and pray. It feels nice out here during winters. Don’t think people have much interest in the old building,” he says. One needs the family’s permission to visit the shikargah, heritage activists allege.

Locals have put up photographs of Hindu deities inside and outside the complex. It has not been repaired in a long time.

Bathing ghat of medieval era losing identity

A medieval-era bathing ghat in Katwaria Sarai has been encroached upon by the priests of a Gorakhnath temple and devotees for decades. The bathing ghat still exists, but the temple has built walls and small shrines around it.  

Conservationists say that till the early 1990s, there was sufficient distance between the ghat and the temple premises. But over the years, it kept shrinking. First, the temple built stairs to the ghat and then walls around it. Now every year, villagers from nearby areas come here for a “holy” dip, while nobody really knows the history of the pond.

“This holy pond is several centuries old. It is here that our deity’s idol was found. Our temple is old too, more than 70 years old. We take a dip here to get rid of our sins, and this is what we guide others to do,” says Maharaj Rajiv Shejwal, a 30-year-old dreadlock-sporting temple inhabitant. “My home is in the nearby village of Adchini, but this temple and the pond provide me with a safe environment,” he adds, a weed-filled chillum in his hand.

Mubarak Shah’s tomb needs rescue from puja, trash piles

Mubarak Shah of the Sayyed Dynasty, the emperor between 1421 AD and 1434 AD, planned the construction of this tomb, which later became his mausoleum. The tomb in south Delhi’s Kotla Mubarakpur is among the most beautiful structures in the city, but is now encroached by locals. The tomb not only has pictures and calendars of Hindu deities hung on its walls, it also has huge garbage piles around it.

The insides still retain the original architecture, but the highly-populated area around it has left its mark on the walls, often used to burn incense sticks.

“We do not know whose mazaar this is. We have been seeing these pictures here for a decade and, thus, we treat it as a sacred place,” says a local resident. “Some local men sit here and play cards and smoke hookah, while women come here to light incense sticks. What heritage monument? This is our place,” says another local.

Delhi’s largest baoli gasping for space

Qasai Wala Gumbad, the only Tughlaq-era mosque with a hemi-spherical dome, on Muradabad Pahadi in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar is a heavily-encroached heritage structure. It is a unique construction with a Tughlaq-era mosque and a Lodi-era mosque side by side. Much of it has been converted into a madrassa.

Inside the premises exists Delhi’s largest baoli, or step-well, which has been taken over by mosque authorities. Visits to either the mosque or the step-well are prohibited. The step-well is crumbling, struggling to retain its identity.

“We do not even let in parents of the 100 madrassa students. The Archaeological Department is eyeing our mosque and a case is going on. This is our land,” says Mohammad Feroze, caretaker of one of the most magnificent structures in Delhi.

OTHER CASES OF DAMAGE

On the August Kranti Marg one can find small temple-like constructions along the Siri Fort wall. ASI has been resisting efforts to convert them into a full-fledged temple. Idols and calendars have been appearing and vanishing.

Behind the Safdarjung Enclave market, amid a residential area, stands Maluk Chand Gumbad, a tomb, which is now closed. On its walls, tiles with photographs of deity have appeared.

Jamali-Kamali tomb and mosque in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park had people coming here to light incense sticks.

Bahadur Shah Zafar had reserved a plot for his grave inside the Zafar Mahal in Mehrauli village. While Shah was exiled to Rangoon in Burma and killed there, his tomb exists. Locals do not let anyone enter the empty grave site with shoes on claiming it as a Pir Dargah.

EXPERT COMMENTS

‘All authorities must join hands for monuments’

We have saved several monuments when I was with ASI. We used to take help from Delhi Development Authority and police as culprits are often notorious. In 2010 alone, four monuments were saved from intruders. Any action plan can only work when all authorities come together to save monuments.
—KK Muhammed, ex-ASI official

‘Flawed idea of history behind the heritage damage’

A reason for the damage is the flawed idea that medieval-era structures do not represent our heritage as they were built by so-called invaders, so much so that the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh went on record saying that the Taj Mahal is not our heritage.
— Sohail Hashmi, conservationist

‘Sad scene, this way, we will lose everything’

There is no problem if a heritage mosque is being used as a mosque or a temple as a temple, but they turn tombs or other such structures into religious sites and this is sad. This way, the entire heritage will be lost.
—AGK Menon, historian

‘ASI must stop this rampant land grab’

The ultimate aim behind these new interventions is to grab land. Once it becomes a religious place, it is difficult to set it free. These monuments work both as a place to live and carry out businesses. Some start to charge fees just like we what see in Sultangarhi.  ASI should step in and look into these encroachments.
—Swapna Liddle, INTACH

‘Tourists & scholars have been kept at bay by encroachers’

Religious groups discourage tourists and researchers and stall restoration. The governing body of that structure tries to do restoration on its own, which often destroys the authenticity of the structure and endangers the monument. We also lose valuable information on architecture, lifestyle and culture.
—Vikramjit Singh Rooprai, heritage activist